Cebu Customs faces higher P2.3B monthly target in 2018

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) Port of Cebu has an assigned target collection of P28 billion for 2018 or P2.3 billion a month, set by the Department of Finance (DOF).

Acting District Collector Wivina Pumatong said that the administration’s economic managers expect an increase in collections because of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train), the first of five tax reform packages, signed into law last December by President Rodrigo Duterte.

Pumatong explained, though, that the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BR) is still finalizing the Train’s implementing rules and regulations (IRR).

One of the BOC’s challenges in chasing its collection target is that while the Train will increase excise taxes on diesel and coal, among others, only a small portion of the country’s diesel imports go through the Cebu Port.

“We only have big volume of coal importation in Cebu, which is used by power plants in Naga City and Toledo City,” Pumatong said.

In the past years, the Port of Cebu let in big volumes of fuel imports, but importers like Phoenix have gone to Davao City and Seaoil went to Iloilo City due to the lack of an oil depot in Cebu. She said they will work hard to meet the target, despite some constraints.

The BOC Cebu collected a total of P21.038 billion in 2017, which fell short of its P22.906-billion target.

Pumatong said that although they failed to reach the 2017 target, they still have an all-time-high collection, given that they only managed P18.471 billion in 2016. It was difficult to reach the target collection because from January to August 2017, it was only P1.6 billion but it was raised to P2.1 billion from September to December 2017, the collector added.

Stretch target

“How we wish we could lower the collection target but it is set by the Department of Finance, the BOC’s mother agency,” Pumatong said. Among the factors to consider are efficiency in the collection of duties and taxes, abolition of the benchmark method, following the value listed by Import Assessment Service (IAS), and cooperation of BOC personnel.

She said that IAS has a reference value, which the BOC can use in evaluating the declared value of importations.

“We will investigate if the value submitted by importers will not jibe with the IAS value and if importers have no proof of payment from suppliers abroad. The invoice and proof of payment must jibe,” Pumatong song.

If the value difference is only one or two percent lower than that of IAS, the BOC will consider it because it is possible that the importer secured a discount, she said.