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The Bureau of Customs Post Clearance Audit Group (PCAG) collected P191.4 million in duties and taxes from the conduct of its regular audits and Prior Disclosure Program (PDP) in January
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The revenue stemmed from three demand letters for payment of deficiency and 21 applications for PDP
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PCAG last January also approved six PDP applications and completed five final audit reports, while seven importers were recommended for suspension
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It issued 28 new audit notification letters for importers in the coffee industry, oil and petroleum industry, and one consignee with compliance issues
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) Post Clearance Audit Group (PCAG) collected P191.384 million in duties and taxes from the conduct of regular audits and Prior Disclosure Program (PDP) in January.
PCAG collected the revenue from three demand letters for payment of deficiency and 21 applications for PDP, BOC said in a statement.
Of the 21 PDP applications, 17 were from importers of mechanically deboned meat (MDM) with a total payment of P36.592 million.
PDP, formerly known as the Voluntary Disclosure Program, is based on international best customs practice that allows importers to voluntary pay for discrepancies in duties and taxes of previous shipments before post-clearance audit.
PCAG last January also approved six PDP applications and completed five final audit reports (FAR), resulting in the issuance of two new demand letters for P14.709 million. Meanwhile, seven importers were recommended for suspension.
PCAG in January also issued 28 new audit notification letters (ANL), of which 17 are for importers in the coffee industry, 10 for those in the oil and petroleum industry and one consignee who was issued an ANL due to compliance issues.
An ANL informs a company that it is subject to post-clearance audit and contains information on the audit procedure.
PCAG in a statement said it is optimistic about collecting additional revenues from the post-clearance audits, which started in 2019.
At present, there are still 26 demand letters for collection of an estimated amount of P12 billion. Of the 24, there are 18 demand letters, amounting to P5 billion in collection, which are undergoing motion for reinvestigation/reconsideration, and eight demand letters for collection amounting to P6.9 billion that remains unpaid, with the cases for referral to BOC’s Legal Service for filing of a collection suit.
In 2020, PCAG generated an estimated additional revenue of P1.2 billion from its regular audits and PDPs. The group has also issued 168 ANLs, of which 60 were issued in October 2020 against importers of MDM.
The government has for years been imposing lower import duty on MDM of chicken and turkey in order to control inflation. An executive order was recently issued extending the lower tariff until 2022.
The post-clearance audit, formerly post-entry audit, unit returned to the BOC in 2016 from the Department of Finance, which took over the unit from the BOC in 2014.
In 2018 PCAG started welcoming applications to PDP and in early 2019, began sending out ANLs with the release of Customs Administrative Order No. 01-2019, which implements BOC’s post-clearance audit function.
Under the order, within three years from the date of final payment of duties and taxes or from customs clearance, BOC may conduct an audit examination, inspect, verify, and investigate records pertaining to any goods declaration. The declaration includes statements, declarations, documents, and electronically generated or machine-readable data.
Such audit intends to ascertain if the goods valuation is correct and determine if the importer is liable for duties, taxes, and other charges, including any fine or penalty.
