BOC collects P814 billion in 11 months

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Customs (BOC) collected P814 billion in 11 months and is poised to surpass its full year target on the back of improved tax collection despite lower import volumes.

In a briefing yesterday, Customs Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio said collections from January to November amounted to P813.651 billion, three percent higher than the P789.247 billion in the same period last year.

The 11-month revenue is also slightly above by 2.2 percent than the P795.966 billion target for the period.

As such, the collection is now 93 percent of the P874.2 billion target for the year set by the Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee.

Rubio expressed confidence that the BOC would be able to hit and surpass the target.

“There will be a surplus. I cannot say yet how much, but I am certain I will reach the target and give a surplus,” Rubio said.

Rubio attributed the better collection for the period to efficient tax collection of the BOC even as imports are slightly lower.

“Our assessment now is that we are doing great in assessing the goods that are coming in,” Rubio said.

“But volume-wise, the assumptions are really low like fuel price expectation is about $90 per barrel, but now we are only at $68 to $70,” he said.

The BOC chief emphasized that the majority of revenues are really coming from fuel importations, thus, the drop in prices in the global market greatly affects the overall income.

Customs, likewise, attributed its performance to agency efforts to enhance trade facilitation and boost revenues as part of the overall economic recovery and growth.

Customs is also ramping up its digitalization efforts by developing new systems and modern facilities to streamline procedures and reduce processing times in import and export transactions.

As the second largest revenue agency, the BOC is mandated to deliver financial resources to fund the government’s programs and projects.