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The Bureau of Customs Post Clearance Audit group is looking at collecting from P3 billion to P3.5 billion this year as it eyes to conduct audit on more industries
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PCAG fell short of its P3-billion collection goal in 2024, taking in P2.710 billion
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The 2024 collection is, however, 38.3% higher than the P1.959 billion recorded in 2023
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) Post Clearance Audit Group (PCAG) is looking to collect from P3 billion to P3.5 billion this year as it eyes the audit of more industries, according to assistant commissioner and PCAG head Vincent Philip Maronilla.
PCAG fell short of its P3-billion collection goal for 2024, taking in P2.710 billion from post-clearance audits and voluntary disclosures applications. The 2024 total was, however, 38.3% higher than the P1.959 billion recorded in 2023.
For this year, the internal target may even be increased to P4 billion if the group gets more personnel, Maronilla told PortCalls in a recent chance interview.
Last year, PCAG focused on the power and agriculture sectors, as well as excisable items. This year, Maronilla said they will continue to focus on manufacturing and some by-products of the energy sector but will also look into other industries such as heavy machineries and e-commerce.
As part of BOC’s five-point priority agenda for this year, BOC aims to surpass its revenue collection through, among others, strengthening efforts to collect revenue from non-traditional sources such as post-clearance audit.
READ: BOC sets 5 priorities for 2025
The function of the post-clearance audit, formerly called post-entry audit, was returned to BOC in 2016 from the Department of Finance, where the function had been transferred in 2014.
In 2018 PCAG started welcoming applications to Prior Disclosure Program (PDP) and in early 2019, began sending out audit notification letters (ANL) with the release of Customs Administrative Order (CAO) No. 01-2019, which implements BOC’s post-clearance audit function.
READ: BOC to commence audit of firms with release of post-clearance audit order
PDP, formerly called voluntary disclosure program, is based on international best customs practice that allows importers to voluntarily pay for discrepancies in duties and taxes of previous shipments before post-clearance audit. An ANL, meanwhile, informs a company that it will be subjected to post-clearance audit and details the audit procedure.
Under CAO 01-2019, within three years from the date of final payment of duties and taxes or from customs clearance, BOC may audit, 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. – Roumina Pablo
