Customs exceeds collection target for month of June

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Customs (BOC) collected at least P23.727 billion in June, or roughly P860 million above its target for the month, outgoing Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales said Thursday, citing preliminary data.

Morales said that of the P23.727 billion, the agency’s cash collections amounted to P19.452 billion while the revenues from the Tax Expenditure Fund hit P4.275 billion.

The BOC had been tasked to collect P22.867 billion in June, lower than its May goal of P23.365 billion.

Of the P22.867 billion, the BOC had a cash collection goal of P18.867 billion and target to raise P4 billion from TEF.

The so-called TEF revenues are essentially non-cash which means that these do not add to the actual cash revenues of the agency and are merely collections on paper.

The TEF is a subsidy released by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to government-owned and controlled corporations and state-run companies mainly to settle customs duties and other taxes arising from the importation of goods.

Morales said the agency continues to benefit from the general improvement in the economy including a recovery in exports and imports.

The government counts on the BOC for revenues to help plug a budget deficit. 

From January to May, the budget deficit stood at P162.1 billion, already breaching the first half deficit ceiling of P145.2 billion and above the budget gap recorded in the same period last year of P123.2 billion.