BOC first quarter collections rose to P148 billion

MANILA, Philippine—Amid easing trade restrictions across borders, the Bureau of Customs’ (BOC) collections of import duties and other taxes during the first quarter of 2021 not only grew year-on-year but also surpassed its target.

In a statement on Monday (April 5) the BOC said its tax take from January to March amounted to P148 billion, exceeding the P134-billion program for the three-month period.

During the month of March alone, collections reached P54.5 billion, above the P47.7-billion goal. The BOC exceeded its monthly targets from January to March 2021.

Actual collections last month also climbed 22.1 percent from P44.6 billion a year ago.

As such, end-March collections inched up by 1.9 percent from P145.3 billion during the first three months of last year.

Last month, 13 of the country’s 17 ports had above-target collections: Batangas, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Clark, Davao, Iloilo, Limay, San Fernando, Subic, Surigao, Tacloban, Zamboanga, and Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).

“The BOC’s positive revenue collection performance is attributed to the improved valuation and intensified collection efforts of all the ports. Despite this, the bureau maintains its border security measures against undervaluation, misdeclaration and other forms of technical smuggling and collect lawful revenues,” it said.

Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero said the BOC’s personnel, “despite the risk to their health and safety, showed their unwavering commitment and dedication to service.”

The country’s second largest tax-collection agency, the BOC had been tasked to collect a bigger P616.7 billion this year than last year’s P539.7 billion—a target which Guerrero in January told the Inquirer was “attainable.”

For 2021, normalizing global oil prices and expectations of reverting to 6.5-7.5 percent economic growth following last year’s recession—the worst post-war, would help the BOC achieve its revenue goal.

The Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) had projected goods imports to grow 8 percent this year following a 19.5-percent drop last year.

Separately, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III on Monday said the BOC and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) collected a total of P210.6 billion in import duties and excise taxes from 21.6billion liters of oil products as of March 25 through the government’s fuel marking program, which started in September 2019.

TSB