Luxury car importers submit books to BOC

MANILA, Philippines - Luxury car importers have complied with the Bureau of Customs (BOC) order to submit books of accounts for the audit of their imports, an official said.

BOC Commissioner Rufino Biazon told reporters luxury car importers have already submitted their books of accounts following the lead of PGA Cars Inc.

“They had to comply, otherwise we can suspend their import license,” he said.

Books of accounts are needed for the conduct of audit as such provide more information compared to documents presented at the port of entry.

Those presented at the port of entry only provide the declared value of the units being brought in.

With the books of accounts already with the BOC, Biazon said the agency is currently undertaking the audit of the imports made by the luxury car distributors.

He added that they expect to release the results of the audit soon.

“We’re just waiting for the report from the post entry audit group of the BOC,” he said.

“Audits take quite some time, anywhere from three to four months,” he added.

The BOC will determine the next action to be taken after the audit is completed.

Those found to have imported cars that were undervalued will be asked to pay the difference between the declared value and the actual price.

Those found to have misdeclared imports will be charged penalties.

Biazon said a similar audit has been undertaken for car companies in the past.

“All car importers in one way or another undergo this. We’re just looking at their books of accounts, and if there is undervaluation we simply charge them,” he said.