Customs exceeds Jan. tariff collections target

THE Customs bureau said its tariff collections as of January 27 already reached P65.801 billion, surpassing its total revenue target last month of P58.822 billion.

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) said its preliminary data showed that tariff collections during the reference period were already 13.1-percent higher than the P58.174 billion recorded revenue in January last year.

“Customs Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz continues to lead the BOC in implementing stringent measures to counter illicit trade and Customs fraud while improving trade facilitation and increasing lawful revenue collection in line with the directives of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.,” the BOC said in a statement on Tuesday.

Earlier this year, the BOC has already expressed confidence that it will be able to meet its full-year collection target of P901.337 billion. The BOC has also set an internal collection target of P921 billion.

Last year, the BOC’S total revenue collections rose by 34 percent on an annual basis to a record high of P862.929 billion on the back of higher imports and better system of collection. (Related story: https://businessmirror.com. ph/2023/01/13/customs-collection-for-2022up-34-to-recordhigh-%e2%82%a7863b)

The BOC collected P643.562 billion in 2021. The BOC added that it surpassed its revenue collection target last year of P721.52 billion by 19.6 percent based on its preliminary report.

“It was the first time in the BOC’S history that all ports exceeded their annual collection targets per the BOC Financial Service,” the bureau said in a statement last month.