BOC collects P23.665 billion in May

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has collected at least P23.665 billion in May, or roughly P300 million above its target for the month, Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales said yesterday, citing preliminary data.

“As of May 31, according to preliminary collections with only data from major ports available, the BOC already exceeded the target by more than P300 million,” he said.

The BOC had been tasked to collect P23.365 billion in May, higher than its April goal of P22.690 billion.

Morales said the agency continues to benefit from the general improvement in the economy including a recovery in exports and imports.

Of the P23.665 billion, Morales said roughly P5 billion came from the government’s Tax Expenditure Fund (TEF).

The so-called TEF revenues are essentially non-cash which means that these do not add to the actual cash revenues of the agency and are merely collections on paper.

The TEF is a subsidy released by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to government-owned and controlled corporations and state-run companies mainly to settle customs duties and other taxes arising from the importation of goods.

Morales said that the final figures for May would still be higher because collections from other ports have not been counted.

In April, the BOC collected P23.409 billion on the back of combined collection efficiency and a steady recovery in imports.

The P23.409 billion collected in April is 3.2 percent above the agency’s revenue goal for the month of P22.690 billion. It is also 8.3 percent higher than the P21.615 billion recorded in the same month last year.

The April figures brought Customs collections from January to April to P83.985 billion, also above the target for the four-month period of P77.824 billion. Compared to collections in the same period last year of P64.730 billion, the P83.985 billion is higher by 29.7 percent.

Morales, who is preparing to step down from office once a new administration takes over in June, expressed hopes that the agency would continue to generate more revenues in the coming months given the global economic recovery.

This, Morales said, would also lead to a general improvement in business, particularly in imports.

Since the start of the year, the BOC’s collections have been improving. In January, it collected P17.605 billion, above the P14.404 billion collect in the same period last year. In February, it generated P18.071 billion, above the P13.850 billion collected a year ago and similarly in March, the BOC collected P24.900 billion, above the P14.861 billion generated a year ago.

For the whole year, the BOC is tasked to collect P275 billion.