BOC exceeds March target by P1.1B

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Customs (BOC), exceeded its collection target in March by P1.1 billion.

The BOC collected P23.673 billion in March as against the collection target of P22.5 billion for the month. “Our excess was P1.1 billion,” Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez said.

Of the P23.673, the cash collections amounted to P22.983 while revenues from the Tax Expenditure Fund (TEF) amounted to P690 million. The TEF is a form of subsidy given by the government to help state-owned agencies with their import requirements.

With the strong performance in March and the good start in January, Alvarez said the BOC may meet its first-quarter revenue target of P63 billion.In January, the BOC, the government’s second largest revenue earner, collected P20.224 billion in duties, exceeding by P216 million its assigned revenue goal for the month.

Alvarez said the January collections also exceeded year-ago figures by P2.62 billion or 14.9 percent.

The P20.224 billion collected in January marks the second highest monthly collection in the history of the agency. The highest on record was the P21.5 billion recorded in July 2010. In February, however, the BOC missed its collection goal of P20.8 billion.

The BOC has a revenue target of P320 billion this year, higher than the P280-billion goal last year. For 2012, the agency needs to raise P365 billion.

Under heavy pressure to meet collection targets, the BOC has been filing before the Department of Justice (DOJ) cases against smugglers at least once a week.