The paper analyzes the revenue performance of the LTO during the period 1994 2003.
Aside from the major collectors of the government, namely the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) is one of the agencies that contribute substantially to the governments total revenues. The LTO is tasked to register motor vehicles (MV); issue licenses and permits; enforce land transportation rules and regulations; adjudicate traffic cases; and in the process, collects revenues for the government.
The present revenue sources of the LTO consist of four main types, namely: (1) tax revenue; (2) non-tax revenue; (3) capital revenue; and (4) trust receipts. Revenues from taxation include the Motor Vehicles Users Charge (formerly called the registration fee), science tax and fines and penalties for late payment of these taxes; while non-tax sources come from license fees, miscellaneous fees and fines and penalties for non-compliance with traffic rules and regulations and on expired licenses and permits. Capital revenue includes income from sale of scraps of fixed assets fully depreciated and no longer serviceable and income generated from dividends while trust receipts consist of the collections from transactions subject to the legal research fee.
LTO collection continuously increased from P 2,631 million in 1994 to P 7,505 million in 2003, registering an average growth rate of 12.62% annually. On the average, about three-fourths (73.87%) of total revenue was contributed by tax revenues; non-tax revenues shared 25.03%; and the remaining 1.0% came from capital revenue and trust receipts.
Tax revenues almost tripled from P 1,996 million in 1994 to P 5,911 million in 2003 with registration fees contributing the bulk of the collections. One notable observation is the faster growth of the registration fee collection during 2001 2003 despite low average increases in the number of MVs registered during the period. This is due to the implementation of the MV Users Charge which doubled the former registration fee but on a staggered basis of 25% per year from 2001 up to 2004.
Non-tax revenue collection, consisting mainly of receipts from miscellaneous fees and license fees, grew from P 605 million in 1994 to P 1,529 million in 2003. The majority of the miscellaneous fees came from MV registration transactions, payment of motor vehicle plates and motorcycle plates and on the issuance of validating tags and stickers. Collections from these receipts substantially increased from P 161 million in 1994 to P 626 million in 2003. On the other hand, drivers license fee collection increased from P 295 million in 1994 to P 508 million in 2003.
Through the years, the LTO has continued to play a vital role not only in enforcing existing laws on land transportation and traffic rules but also in terms of generating revenue for financing the countrys expenditure requirements for road maintenance and development.
