Customs tasked to hike 2014 collections by 20%

The government has tasked the Bureau of Customs to increase its collection of import duties and taxes next year by at least 20 percent from its target for 2013.

The Department of Finance, the parent agency of the BOC, wanted the agency to boost collections by implementing new measures against smuggling.

Under the 2014 fiscal program, the collection goal for the BOC for next year was set at P408.1 billion compared with its target of P340 billion for 2013.

The assignment of a higher revenue collection target for 2014 was  despite earlier pronouncements from Customs officials that the agency was poised to fall short of its collection target for this year and  their requests for lower targets.

They cited lower-than-expected imports as well as the continued decline in tariff rates on imported goods from the region as a result of a trade agreement among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). Tariffs on most goods within Asean are scheduled to drop to zero by 2015.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, however, said the BOC, just like the Bureau of Internal Revenue, would have to be given higher collection targets to take into account additional revenue collection supposedly resulting from the implementation of measures that address tax evasion and smuggling.

According to estimates, the government loses about P200 billion in potential revenues a year due to smuggling, which, in turn, has been partly blamed on corruption in the BOC.

Purisima said the declining tariffs on goods from Southeast Asia was not an excuse, saying these have only a marginal impact on the BOC collection because existing tariffs were already low.

“Tariffs on goods coming from Asean countries are now close to zero. Bulk of the collections of the BOC [from imported goods from the region] should be accounted for by value-added tax and excise tax on imports,” the finance chief told reporters.

Perceived as the most corrupt agency of government, the BOC is in the process of reorganization.

New deputy commissioners were recently appointed to implement new means to curb corruption in the agency and enhance its revenue-collection performance.

A number of port collectors were also reassigned to research jobs in the DOF.

The reassignments are expected to continue as the human resource department of the BOC has been tasked to review the profiles of the employees to see whether they are still fit for their current posts.