BOC’s Oct collection up 22%

MANILA, Philippines - Revenue collections by the Bureau of Customs posted a new monthly record high in October due to higher volume of imported goods and improvements in valuation.

The BOC recorded revenues of P34.16 billion last month, up 22.6 percent from October 2013 despite the challenges brought about by congestion at the country’s main ports.

However, this was still below the agency’s goal for the month of P36.81 billion.

This brings BOC’s total collections to P299.95 billion from January to October this year or 18.6 percent higher than the P252.88 billion reported in the same period last year.

A surge in consumer demand and clearing-out of shipments at the ports propelled a 31.8 percent increase in import volume while improvements in the bureau’s processes and continued reforms translated to a 34.4 percent growth in the valuation of goods and a 30.17 percent hike in duties and taxes collected, the BOC said.

The Manila International Container Port accounted for P81.26 billion or more than a fifth of total BOC revenues during the first 10 months.

The Batangas port collected the second biggest haul with P66.59 billion followed by the Port of Manila with P51.56 billion.

Others that contributed substantially to BOC’s revenues were the Lima Port (P32.72 billion), Ninoy Aquino International Airport (P23.49 billion) and the Cebu Port (10.86 billion).

The ports of Batangas, Iloilo, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, Subic and Aparri exceeded their collection target for the period, the BOC said.

Cash collections, which net out importations that are booked as tax expenditure funds or non-cash collections recorded on paper for government transactions, increased by 28.5 percent in October.