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MANILA - After failing to hit monthly revenue targets since he assumed the post, Customs Commissioner Rufino Biazon will revive an amnesty program benefiting vehicle importers who failed to pay correct duties on their purchases.
"We are presently coordinating with the Land Transportation Office for the forging of MOA that will enable us to pursue with the VDP within the year," Biazon said, referring to the Voluntary Disclosure Program.
"The VDP will strictly pertain to private individuals and does not include dealers or manufacturers," he said.
The Customs chief said the amnesty will benefit only private vehicle owners since they may not be liable for any erroneous entries on import documents submitted to the bureau.
"Dealers or those involved in selling vehicles should know better whether the importation entries they respectively filled out were erroneous or not since they are engaged in the business of buying and selling vehicles. Hence, unlike private vehicle owners, dealers and manufacturers cannot invoke good faith,” Biazon said.
"It took a while before we could finally push through with the program since we still have to secure the necessary clearances from the Department of Finance," he said. The Customs chief didn't say how much the program would contribute to revenues.
The Aquino administration was supposed to have revived the program last year.
The Arroyo administration introduced the VDP under then Customs chief Napoleon Morales pursuant to Customs Administrative Order 5-2007, which was aimed at rewarding honest traders and penalizing unscrupulous ones.
The order provides that if an importer realizes the mistake or error before their import papers are audited by Customs, they may avail of the program to correct these mistakes and settle the obligations.
Should Customs discover these irregularities during regular post-entry audit, the erring importer or vehicles owner will have to pay the penalty, ranging from 50 to 800 percent of the corresponding taxes and duties that were due.
Biazon said the program does not exempt an importer from criminal prosecution should they be discovered to have committed fraud in reducing their tax liability.
The Post Entry Audit Group is tasked to review shipment records to detect any discrepancies and irregularities in the importation.
The decision to revive the amnesty program comes amid Customs' failure to hit monthly revenue targets. Last month, the bureau was missed its P28.34 billion collection goal by P3.59 billion.
This brought the first five-month revenue tally to P119.71 billion, or 13 percent short of the agency's P137.71 billion collection target for the period. It is tasked to raise P346.41 billion for the whole year to help keep the government's budget deficit below the P279 billion ceiling.
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