Customs misses August collections target

MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Customs (BOC), the second largest revenue collection agency, missed its target in August due to two long holidays and weather-related disruptions, explained Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon.

On Wednesday, September 5, the BOC announced that it collected P22.307 billion in August — slightly more than the P22.152 collected in August 2011, but P6 billion lower than the target for the month of P28 billion.

Biazon cited the two holidays during the month, August 21 and 27, and the Southwest monsoon rain that caused record floods in the National Capital Region and neighboring areas that resulted in suspension of work in the top ports in the capital.

“In effect, we only had 19 working days in August 2012, compared to the 23 days in August 2011,” Biazon said.

The August collections brought the agency’s 8-month revenue take to P190.04 billion, 10.5% more than a year ago.

The BOC is tasked to collect P347 billion this 2012, a target that is increasingly becoming difficult to meet, Biazon said.

This yearend target was originally set at P357 billion by the the interagency Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), the group that sets the country’s macroeconomic assumptions.

The BOC is tasked to collect P397 billion in 2013.

In 2011, the BOC already missed its target by P56.15 billion. It collected roughly P263 billion but the official target was P320 billion.

Biazon had said he would step up the agency’s fight against smuggling. He said the Run After the Smugglers (RATS) program of the BOC would continue to file cases against smugglers as well as Customs insiders and brokers conniving with them.

He also said RATS would try to file bigger cases this year.

Just like the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), which collects about 3/4 of government’s total revenues, the BOC is under pressure to meet collection goals since the the Aquino administration is pursuing its election campaign promise not to push for new tax measures. – Rappler.com