MANILA, Philippines - Total revenue collections by the Bureau of Customs rose 4.8 percent to P304.48 billion in 2013 but still fell short of the agency’s target as expected, based on preliminary data.
The amount was 10.45 percent below the government’s collection goal of P340 billion for 2013.
Cash collections from the BOC’s port operations amounted to P302.04 billion, up 7.07 percent while revenues from the Tax Expenditure Fund (TEF) significantly declined to P2.44 billion from P7.48 billion.
TEF refers to non-cash collections recorded on paper for government transaction such as rice importations by the National Food Authority,
Eight of the BOC’s 17 collection districts exceeded their 2013 targets, namely the ports of Iloilo, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga, Davao, Subic, Clark and Aparri.
Meanwhile, the Manila International Container Port, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport as well as the ports of Batangas and Limay are within single-digit percentage levels of their respective full-year collection targets.
In December alone, the BOC collected a total of P23.74 billion or seven percent more than the P25.53 billion recorded in the same month in 2012. The figure was 15 percent higher than the agency’s collection goal of P28 billion.
The BOC is the second largest revenue-generating agency which contributes about 21 percent of total revenues of the government.
Customs Commissioner John Phillip Sevilla is confident that the agency will perform better this year given its reinvigorated drive to curb smuggling. The BOC is mandated to collect P408 billion this year.
Emerging cash collections by the BOC from what the agency termed as the reform period (November 2013 to January this year) grew 19.26 percent to P81.32 billion. This was a significant jump from the meager 4.76-percent growth recorded in January to October 2013.
Over the past four months, the BOC has been aggressively conducting more onsite examinations on shipments that are believed to be undervalued or misclassified.
To ensure greater accountability and transparency, the BOC launched an integrated communication platform that provides information on goods imported from outside the country including their customs duties.
The new portal, dubbed Customs ng Bayan, will regularly feature the trade activity in each of the 17 main collection districts of the BOC including the value and volume of goods imported and customs duties collected per port.