Philippine BOC Exceeds August Collection Target
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) exceeded its collection target in August amid tax administration developments and gains from expensive fuel.
BOC stated that they collected around ₱78.9 billion in import duties and other taxes last month, which was 34% higher than the ₱58.8 billion goals.
It was the eighth straight month this year that the Philippines’ second-biggest tax-collection agency overshot its monthly targets.
BOC noted that the prior month’s tax collection included ₱77.9 billion remitted at the ports of entry. Another ₱248.2 million came from post-clearance audits of imported goods. As well as ₱677.4 million through the tax expenditure fund (TEF) covering government importation.
BOC expressed, “all 17 ports surpassed their targets and cumulatively achieved a P15.8-billion or 25-percent surplus through intensified collection efforts under the present leadership.”
BOC cited that Customs Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz ordered district collectors to “plug revenue leakages,” which involved outright smuggling and technical smugglings like misclassification, misdeclaration, and undervaluation of import shipments.
From the month of January to August, the BOC remitted a total of ₱559.2 billion, compared to the ₱412 billion it collected during the first eight months of last year.
BOC mentioned, “The collection performance of the BOC and its 17 collection districts, under the leadership of Commissioner Ruiz, is attributed to the intensified collection efforts, streamlined, digitized, and modernized systems and the improving economy resulting in higher volume of imports.”
Last July, the BOC’s tax revenues reached a monthly record high of ₱84 billion as import values surged, especially oil products.
The Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) anticipates goods imports this year to grow by 18% due to economic reopening, which increased domestic consumer spending, as well as the rising global commodity prices due to the Ukraine-Russia war and pandemic-induced supply-chain disruptions.
A report by Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) shows that as of the end of June, imports jumped 26.7% year on year to $68.3 billion.
The administration’s economic team assigned the BOC to collect ₱722 billion for the entire year, higher than the original ₱679-billion goal for 2022, to bring in a tax windfall from expensive fuel imports.
Last month, Ruiz expressed his confidence that the BOC would overshoot this year’s larger “internal” collection target amounting to ₱740 billion.
Ruiz stated that the BOC could bolster collections as it boosts its anti-smuggling drive.
Last year, the BOC exceeded its ₱616.7 billion goal as it remitted ₱643.6 billion. In 2020, the ₱537.7 billion import duties and taxes it generated were also higher than its ₱506.2 billion target.
