Abra Revenue District Office (RDO) collected a total of P355,779,730.46 for the year 2018. There is a 27% decrease on tax collection compared to 2017 when P489,074,246.56 was collected.

Abra Revenue District Officer Frumencio Belisario said the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law affected their tax collection performance due to higher tax exemption for workers, business operators, and property real taxpayers.

Another reason for the decrease is the transfer of Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)-Abra’s tax payments to the Large Taxpayers Division. DPWH-Abra is considered one of the largest taxpayers in 2018.

Belisario said this year, they are working to improve their tax collection performance by implementing priority programs such as Run Against Tax Evaders (RATE), tax compliance verification drive, tax mapping, monitoring of sales, stocks, and the compliance of withholding tax agents.