The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has asked a total of 23 importers of iron and steel as well as resin to pay over P2 billion in tax deficiencies.
In a statement on Wednesday, the BOC said Customs Commissioner Alberto D. Lina had already issued post-entry audit assessments and demand letters to those whose deficiencies were found in their import declarations by the Department of Finance-Fiscal Intelligence Unit (DOF-FIU).
The BOC said the estimated unpaid import duties and taxes by 18 resins importers reached P2 billion, while those of the five iron and steel importers totaled P55 million.
These 23 importers must pay their respective assessed deficiencies within 10 days or file an appeal within 30 days upon receipt of the BOC’s demand letter.
“Despite the chance given to the importers to reply to the initial notices that [the DOF-FIU] sent [from September to October last year], no one among the 23 importers submitted any single comprehensive reply to the audit findings of the DOF-FIU, thus the submission of the final audit reports and recommendations to the BOC and the issuance of the assessments and demand letters to the importers by the BOC chief,” the agency explained.
“With these initial findings, we consider the post-entry audit process as an effective and efficient tool to balance the government’s commitment to anti-smuggling, trade facilitation and revenue generation,” Lina said.
“This system is a win-win solution for both the trading community and the government as the system addresses many of the problems in importation. For the importers, the system expedites clearance of goods by reducing the frequency of customs interventions at the border and resolving issues after release of goods to the importer,” the Customs chief added.
“Since [the BOC] is one source of government revenue to finance many of the government projects, the post-entry audit system secures as well that people’s projects are assured of sources of financing by ensuring effective and efficient revenue collection,” Lina said. The DOF-FIU started the conduct of post-entry audits in June last year.