As of September 12, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has accredited a total of 1,524 taxpayers under an importer and customs broker accreditation program.
A recently released BIR advisory listed the names of the 1,353 importers and 171 customs brokers who now have a regular Importer Clearance Certificate (ICC) and Broker Clearance Certificate (BCC). The list is just the first batch of taxpayers with BIR accreditation.
Their accreditation is valid for three years or until 2017.
The more than 1,500 taxpayers represent only 10.2% of the total 14,995 included in the Bureau of Customs (BOC) list of importers and brokers as of February 2014.
Under Finance Department Order No. 12-2014, the Department of Finance (DOF) — the mother agency of BIR and BOC — implemented a two-tier accreditation program for importers and customs brokers. Under the order, importers must secure their ICC and customs brokers their BCC from the BIR first before they can seek another accreditation with the BOC to be able to import goods.
The BIR advisory also identified the 2,010 importers and 40 customs brokers that were provided with provisional ICCs and BCCs valid either until December 2014 or the first quarter of 2015.
In the same advisory, the BIR noted that those with provisional accreditation have satisfied the criteria for full accreditation. These include being registered with the BIR, having no delinquent accounts or pending criminal cases, and not being tagged as a “cannot be located” taxpayer. In addition they are included in the BOC’s list of accredited importers or brokers as of February 2014 that met the July 31, 2014 deadline to submit their applications for ICC/BCC.
However, holders of provisional certificates need to further verify their compliance with all the prescribed criteria provided under Revenue Memorandum Order No. 10-2014, as amended, in order to claim a regular ICC/BCC before their provisional accreditation expires.
“They are advised to complete the verification of their compliance at least 30 days prior to the end of the validity period of their respective provisional clearance as importer or broker,” BIR added. – Roumina Pablo
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