SBMA bares revenue collection of P3.55 B for first 8 months

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) reported yesterday that the port recorded revenue collection of P3.55 billion for the first eight months of this year.

 “The growing number of business locators in Subic also contributed to the growth in income taxes collected from Freeport employees, which now number to almost 82,000,” SBMA administrator Armand C. Arreza said.

According to Arreza, the upsurge in collection is “reflective of the growth in business operations” by the more than 1,100 investor firms in the Subic Bay Freeport, as well as the increasing number of port users.

He added that in just the first eight months alone, the active workforce in the Subic Freeport rose by 11,321 from 70,408 at the end of 2007.

Data released by the SBMA showed that cash receipts by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) went up by 7.61 percent from the year-ago level of P3.3 billion.

SBMA said the surge in tax and duties collection started in June, where the growth was largest at 40.05 percent. The increase continued in the next two months as July collections went up 12.27 percent while a more modest 8.36-percent growth was seen in August.

For BOC alone, collections reached P2.54 billion, 8.11 percent better than the P2.35 billion in January to August 2007.

The highest monthly collection in the eight-month period was recorded in July when BoC collected P393 million followed by P367 million in June, and P335 million in August.

Meanwhile, non-cash revenues by the BOC amounted to P3.54 billion in the first eight months. This is more than double the P1.58 billion posted the year before.