The Bureau of Customs (BOC) reported that the government’s second largest tax agency has exceeded its collection target for August in just three weeks.
In a statement, Customs Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz said on Thursday, Aug. 25, that the bureau has raised P60.52 billion from Aug. 1 to 23, already surpassed their full-month goal of 58.85 billion.
“The BOC just exceeded the August collection target with our revenue today (Aug 23) of P60.524 billion. We are up by 2.8 percent or by P1.675 billion compared to the monthly target,” Ruiz said.
He noted that Customs August collection performance is the latest series of outstanding achievements of the agency since the start of the year.
For this reason, Ruiz expressed confidence that the agency would sustain its above-target collections in the final four-months of 2022.
“The BOC has been surpassing its monthly collection targets since January, and is poised to sustain its consistently good performance record through the implementation of its enhanced reform programs,” Ruiz said.
From January to July, Customs raised P481.14 billion, more than 24 percent above the P388.6 billion target for the period. Likewise, the agency’s tax haul was 34 percent higher compared with P358.9 billion in the same period last year.
In 2022, Customs is tasked to collect P740 billion. To meet its full-year target, the agency needs to generate P258.86 billion in the last five-months.
Earlier, Ruiz said that curbing smuggling, increasing revenue collections, eradicating corruption, and implementing the full digitization are his priority programs.
Before his designation as Customs chief, Ruiz was the head of the Enforcement and Security Service (ESS) of the bureau since 2017.
As ESS Director, he spearheaded several enforcement projects and handled the operations which contributed to the anti-smuggling campaign of agency.
The new Customs chief also served the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) as Regional Director for seven years in different regions nationwide where he led numerous drug interdiction efforts.