THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) collected P2 billion from cellphone imports from January to April this year, a 27.1-percent jump from its revenue-take in the same period last year.
In his report to the Department of Finance, Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero said that the implementation of improved valuation method enabled the bureau to collect more tariffs this year from cellphone imports despite lower import volume.
Citing preliminary data, the BOC collected P426.76-million more compared to its revenue take of P1.57 billion from January to April 2020.
Guerrero said cellphone imports are now taxed per piece and by brand instead of the previous method of taxing them by volume.
Preliminary data presented by BOC also showed a total volume of 660,000 kilograms (kg) of cellphone imports in the 4-month period this year, lower by 30.4 percent compared to last year’s 950,000 kg.
“It was mainly because of the entry of high-end cellphones and telecommunications equipment, and also because of better valuation,” Guerrero said during the recent DOF Executive Committee meeting.
Moreover, the Customs chief the BOC also collected P24.79 million from mobile phone parts from January 1 to April 30, which was P10.86 million or 78 percent more than last year’s P13.94 million despite almost the same volume of these goods entering the country in both periods.
The bureau also hauled in P3.46 billion in revenues from imports of other types of telecommunications equipment and devices as of end-April this year. This is 28 percent more than the P2.7 billion collected during the same period in 2020.
In total, the BOC was able to collect P5.49 billion from imports by the telecommunications sector as of April 30, representing a 28-percent improvement from the P4.3 billion collection during the same period last year.
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