The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has collected P347.6 billion in revenues from January to August 2020, higher by 5.13% than the P330.63-billion target for the period.
For August alone, BOC and sister agency Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) also surpassed their revised targets set by the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC). This is despite the curtailed economic activities in Metro Manila and nearby provinces of Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite and Rizal from August 4 to 18, when these areas were placed under the stricter modified enhanced community quarantine.
For August 2020, BOC collected P44.59 billion, topping its P33.68-billion goal by 32.58%, mother agency Department of Finance (DOF) said in a statement.
The August 2020 revenue was, however, 17% lower than the P53.6 billion earned in the same month last year, while revenue during the eight-month period was 15.5% down from the P411.2 billion earned in the same period last year.
In an earlier statement, BOC said nine of its 17 collection districts had surpassed their August 2020 revenue targets: Tacloban, Zamboanga, Aparri, Limay, Clark, Cebu, Subic, Cagayan De Oro, and Davao. BOC attributed the positive performance to “improved valuation and intensified collection efforts of all the ports.”
Combined collections of BOC and BIR in August reached P216.65 billion, 39.53% more than the P155.27 billion target for that month.
For the first eight months, combined collection reached P1.636 trillion, surpassing the P1.527-trillion target by 7.17%.
For full-year 2020, BOC is now tasked to collect P506.2 billion, 30.8% lower than the initial target of P731 billion and by 6.6% from the revised target of P541.703 billion last May.
The lower revenue target was in view of the adverse impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on the Philippine economy.
The DBCC foresees a steeper 5.5% contraction of the economy in 2020, down from the 2.0% to 3.4% decline projected last May, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Goods exports and imports are also anticipated to further contract this year, declining by 16% and 18%, respectively. Estimated revenue collections for 2020 were reduced from the P2.61 trillion projected last May to P2.52 trillion, or 13.4% of GDP.
