BASED on preliminary figures, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) is in danger of missing its August collection target due to a trade slowdown.
Customs commissioner Angelito Alvarez said “August is what we call a ‘ghost month’ as importers are preparing for the ‘ber’ months starting September to December”, when shipments arrive in time for the Christmas holidays.
It also does not help that the National Food Authority will likely cut its imports due to oversupply of rice in the country. This move will adversely affect BOC’s collection under the tax expenditure fund (TEF). The TEF accounts for about 10% of the bureau’s revenue target.
August has one of the highest monthly collection goals at P27.12 billion.
Alvarez said he is still confident though that the adjusted 2010 target of P280.68 billion will be met.
BOC collected P152.94 billion from January to July, reflecting a collection surplus of P2.71 billion, down sharply from P6.66 billion last year.
For July alone, BOC raked in P22.22 billion, P3.95 billion lower than its goal of P26.17 billion. Cash represented much of the July take; TEF accounted for P419 million.
