Customs bares higher cash revenue of P1.579B in November

By Evelyn Z. Macairan (The Philippine Star) Updated December 19, 2010

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Customs (BOC) reported that its cash revenue for the month of November was P1.579 billion more than what it earned last year.

In a statement, Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez said that as of Nov. 15, the agency has already surpassed its 2009 full year cash revenue of P198.1 billion.

Alvarez said, “What that means is that any additional cash collection from that date on will come in as additional improvement over last year’s collection performance.”

“We are optimistic that our cash collection this year will exceed last year’s total by about P30 billion. And this will be achieved in spite of the fact that more than 1,900 commodities which contributed several billion pesos in last year’s cash revenue now come in either duty free or with reduced tariff classification,” he added.

However, the Customs chief admitted that despite this accomplishment, the BOC would not be able to meet its 2010 cash collection goal of P241.6 billion set by the Department of Finance (DOF).

He cited as reasons the appreciation of the peso; high utilization of tax credit certificates; and the reduced, if not zero, duties being enjoyed by hundreds of products due to the country’s compulsory compliance with various international, multilateral and bilateral agreements like ASEAN Free Trade Agreements (AFTA) and Japan-Philippines Economics Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) for the lower-than-programmed collection.

The BOC reported that during the first 10 months, from January to October this year, it lost more than P1.4 billion on foreign exchange adjustments since every P1 improvement in the peso exchange rate costs BOC almost P400 million a month. The revenue forecast this year was pegged at P45 to a dollar but the peso strengthened to P44.62 in April, P44.31 in September and P43.44 in October.

Another cause in the agency’s lower collection performance was the preference of big-time importers to settle their financial obligations with the BOC through their accumulated non-cash assets known as tax credit certificates.

Preliminary figures indicate that from January to November this year, the agency’s cumulative foregone revenues due to tax credit utilization totaled P9.2 billion.

He added, “But our greatest handicap comes in the form of reduced, if not zero duties being enjoyed by nearly 2,000 products that until last year were considered traditional big revenue sources for the BOC.”