Customs exceeds target for June

THE BUREAU of Customs (BOC) surpassed its target take of import duties and other taxes from the country’s ports last June, only the second month thus far that the second-biggest tax-collection agency managed to exceed its monthly goal.

Preliminary data released by the BOC Tuesday showed that its total collections in June amounted P31.2 billion, up 14.3 percent from P27.3 billion a year ago and 4.2-percent higher than the P29.9-billion target for the month.

Citing collection district and electronic-to-mobile or e2m reports, the BOC said its revenues at the end of the first half were all derived from cash collections or the duties, taxes and fees slapped on goods that entered the ports.

Last June was only the second month after March that the BOC exceeded its monthly collections goal.

In June alone, the total volume of imports jumped 19.3 percent while the value of inward shipments increased by 1.6 percent.

But the cheaper global oil prices continued to impact on importation of crude oil and petroleum goods, whose volumes declined by 3 percent alongside a steeper 35.4-percent drop in value. Based on the BOC’s computation, the year-to-date average decrease in oil price was at 33.4 percent, pulling down collections from oil products by a sharp 28.5 percent.

As for non-oil goods, the volume and value of imports rose 26.5 percent and 8.8 percent, respectively, raising the amount of taxes and duties collected from these products by 29.1 percent.

During the first half, total BOC collections reached P178.4 billion, up 2.9 percent from the P173.4 billion collected in the first six months of last year.

The actual first-half take, however, was 11.8-percent lower than the P202.2-billion end-June target.