Tax collection in Subic up 5.54%

MANILA, Philippines - Total tax collections of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Bureau of Customs (BOC) in the Subic Bay Freeport zone rose 5.54 percent last year from 2011 amid growing profitability of locators.

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) said in a statement yesterday the combined collection of the BIR and BOC reached P7.62 billion last year, up from P7.22 billion in 2011.

“The combined collection of BIR and BOC here has consistently increased in the last four years, showing growing profitability among freeport-registered locators,” SBMA chairman and administrator Roberto Garcia said.

SBMA records indicated that the two agencies yielded a combined collection of P5.28 billion in 2008.

In 2009, the combined collections increased to P5.6 billion.

The combined collections climbed further to P6.68 billion in 2010.

Last year, BIR’s collections in the freeport reached a total of P1.29 billion, 16.22 percent higher than in 2011.

The BIR collections came from income, value-added, percentage and other taxes.

The collections also included a portion of the five-percent corporate tax levied on the annual gross income of Subic-registered locator companies.

Collections of the BOC alone meanwhile, reached P6.33 billion last year compared to the P6.12 billion in 2011.

Garcia said that as more businesses are seen to invest in the Subic Bay Freeport this year, more business activities, employment opportunities and tax returns are likewise expected.

The country’s investment promotion agencies are actively encouraging foreign firms to locate in the Philippines to achieve higher economic growth and create more jobs.