BOC Cebu exceeds 2018 collection goal

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) Port of Cebu has exceeded its collection goal for the year.

The agency said it collected P30 billion or a surplus of P2.564 billion from January to December against its 2018 collection target of P27.436 billion due to the Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) Law, which was enforced at the start of the year.

Conrado Abarintos, chief of the BOC Port of Cebu Collection Division, said under the Train Law they were able to collect additional excise taxes on oil, coal, cars and sweetened drinks.

The Train Law or Republic Act 10936 imposed the first tranche of oil excise tax from January to December 2018. The second tranche of the tax for diesel, gas and liquefied petroleum gas will take effect on Jan. 1, 2019, but only on new inventory.

The Port of Dumaguete, which is under the Port of Cebu district office, likewise exceeded its collection target by P800 million.

The agency collected P2.9 billion for the year against its collection goal of P2.1 billion for the year.

Dumaguete City has a big oil depot. There is a tremendous increase in oil importation, so the excise tax is also higher, said Abarintos. The imported oil will be distributed throughout the Visayas.

“We could definitely increase our collection further if we have an oil depot in Cebu,” Abarintos noted.

For the Port of Mactan, the collection was supposed to go down because the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) would not pass through customs inspection anymore.

However, because of the Train law, it was able to increase its collection through other means.

“In Cebu, the biggest collection is on oil importation,” Abarintos said.

Other big volume of imported products are steel and other construction materials for real estate developments, coal due to power generation, and frozen meat among others.

Abarintos added that the increased importation of frozen meat by Virginia Farms, Sunpride Corp., among other meat players started last September and may slow down after the Sinulog festival.

“This (arrival of ) frozen meat has been seasonal depending on big events like Christmas holidays and the Sinulog festival,” Abarintos said. /