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By Angelo S. Samonte Reporter
AFTER months of failing to hit
collection targets, the Bureau of Customs said it surpassed its July
goal.
Preliminary figures showed the
bureau raised P21 billion in duties and taxes last month, or 5.7
percent higher than its P19.86-billion target.
The Customs exceeded last
year’s collection by around 28 percent, the first time in seven
months that the bureau outdid its record-breaking monthly
performance of last year.
Customs Commissioner Napoleon
Morales said the agency increased its collection after carrying out
a six-point action, which was presented to President Arroyo last
month and is aimed at raising P12.9 billion in the second half to
recover from the agency’s shortfall in the first semester allow it
to meet its P228-billion full-year goal.
Economic managers retained
Customs’ target despite the continuous appreciation of the peso
and lower import volumes, two major factors that dampened its
income.
Part of the action plan is the
update of valuation data base, strengthening of post-entry audit,
collection of bonds, auctions, x-ray operations and intensification
of the ‘Run After the Smugglers’ program.”
The ports of Manila, Manila
International Container Port, Ninoy Aquino International Airport,
Legazpi, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, Subic and Clark registered
surpluses in July while the ports of Batangas, Subic, Iloilo,
Tacloban, Zamboanga and Surigao failed to meet their goals.
The Customs has now an overall
collection of P114.3 billion and still has to collect the remaining
P10.8 billion for rest of the year.
Speaking during the anniversary
rites of the Bureau Internal Revenue (BIR), Finance Secretary
Margarito B. Teves said there is so much the BIR can do to improve
collection, including in the areas of taxpayer registration,
database and customer service.
He said that under-registration
remains high with only 6.6 million people registered out of 33
million employed persons. “This is high considering that as of
2006 there are 87 million Filipinos,” he added.
Despite a dismal first-half
collection performance, Teves said, the government is on track to
meeting its July revenue and budget deficit goals.
Seaweed exporter bucks
reimposition of tax on
farm products
In a related development, the
Seaweed Industry Association of the Philippines (SIAP) said it would
seek the removal of the reimposed tax on agricultural products.
Benson Dakay, SIAP president,
said the 1-percent tax will hurt the industry, which is already
reeling from factory closures partly due to a strong peso.
He said exporters’ earnings
have been eroded by the appreciating peso, so an additional tax may
further cut the industry’s exports this year from the forecast
$165 million to just $95 million.
Dakay, who is also president of
carageenan manufacturer Shemberg, said the company lost an estimated
P200 million from exports of $40 million.
--With Chino S. Leyco
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