BIR exceeds tobacco excise tax collection target in February enablePagination: false endIndex: Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 28) — Excise tax collections from tobacco increased by more than twofold, exceeding the Bureau of Internal Revenue's February target. The BIR citing preliminary data covering February 1 to February 18 said tax collections from tobacco surged by 110% to ₱17.57 billion from the ₱8.37 billion it collected a year earlier. It already surpassed its collection target by 4.28% after Japan Tobacco International (JTI) Philippines Inc. paid taxes amounting ₱10.94 billion, 108% higher than the ₱5.25 billion it paid last month. According to the BIR, JTI Philippines overtook Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Co. as the top tobacco excise taxpayer as the former's remittance accounted for 63% of the total collection in the period.