The government’s tax effort improved in the first quarter of 2018 from a year earlier on the back of double-digit tax revenue growth, the Finance department said on Friday. Tax collections as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) rose to 14.47 percent in the first three months of 2018 from 13.44 percent, the department said in an economic bulletin. An analyst said the improvement in the tax effort was a positive development. He added that better tax effort data should keep collection agencies inspired to sustain the gains. “Public construction expanded 25.1 percent, boosting GDP growth by 0.4 percentage points while government consumption rose 13.6 percent, contributing [an]incremental 1.4 percent to growth,” it said.

Source: Manila Times May 11, 2018 16:52 UTC