In what is surely music to the ears of shippers, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) has reduced the documentary stamp tax and waived the processing fee for informal entries at all Philippine ports.
Informal entries cover articles of a commercial nature intended for sale, barter or hire, the dutiable value of which does not exceed P2,000.00; and personal and household effects or articles, not in commercial quantity, imported in passenger’s baggage, mail, or otherwise for personal use.
Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and Customs Commissioner John Phillip Sevilla recently signed Customs Administrative Order (CAO) No. 08-2014 which lowers the documentary stamp tax for each importation filed through the informal entry to P15, 94% lower than the previous tax of P250.
Sevilla said the move complies with Section 608 and Sections 3301 to 3304 of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines in relation to Section 36 of the Administrative Code of 1987.
Furthermore, BOC said that it is doing away with the import processing fee, explaining that “no amount shall be collected as import processing fee on any importation filed through the informal entry” and the agency “shall cease to collect import processing fee” on such importations.
The import processing fee for informal entries used to be P265.
The CAO was signed on Nov 20, 2014 and took effect on December 5, 2014. – Roumina Pablo
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
