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MANILA, Philippines—Higher oil prices plus reforms allowed the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to collect its highest-ever monthly take to date in June, amounting to P76.3 billion.
In a statement on Friday (July 1), the country’s second-biggest tax-collection agency said import duties and other taxes it generated last month exceeded the P56.3-billion target by 35.5 percent.
Compared to 2021’s P52.2 billion, the BOC collected 46.2-percent more last June.
“The revenue collection for June also includes additional revenues from the tax expenditure fund (TEF) collection of P301 million and post-clearance audit group collection of P115.9 million,” the BOC said.
Citing latest preliminary report of its financial service, the BOC said 14 of the country’s 17 ports achieved or overshoot their respective June revenue targets, namely: Aparri, Batangas, Cebu, Clark, Davao, Iloilo, Legazpi, Limay, Manila International Container Port (MICP), Port of Manila (POM), San Fernando, Subic, Surigao, and Zamboanga.
From January to June, the BOC’s collections totaled P396.8 billion, surpassing the P327.8-billion first-half goal by 21.1 percent.
The BOC’s end-June tax take grew 31.5 percent from P301.7 billion last year.
Assistant Commissioner and spokesperson Vincent Philip Maronilla told the Inquirer that as of June, revenues from imported oil accounted for 42 percent of the BOC’s total collections, a bigger share than 37 percent a year ago.
Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero also attributed the record monthly collections to “improved valuation of the BOC, its digitized and modernized systems, the improving economy resulting in higher volume of imports, and the intensified collection efforts of all the collection districts.”
The BOC had been tasked with collecting P679.2 billion in tax revenues this year — a target which Guerrero had said will be achievable. The Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) expects the value of goods imports to grow 15 percent this year, a faster pace than the earlier projection of 10-percent growth, amid economic rebound as well as elevated global food and oil prices wrought by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.