MANILA: Customs chief Alberto Lina defended Monday the agency’s plan to open balikbayan boxes, saying the bureau is mandated to prevent the entry of contraband items as well as assess the value of items that need to be taxed.
Lina said that under the law, the bureau can inspect all balikbayan boxes entering the country.
He said the Bureau of Customs is hiring people to inspect up to two percent of 800,000 balikbayan boxes, or about 16,000 boxes, entering the country. He said the US Customs bureau also inspects about 2 percent of all incoming packages.
“We are hiring people to add on to the Bureau of Customs now,” he said in an interview with ANC’s Headstart.
The Customs chief noted that by definition, balikbayan boxes are packages brought by overseas Filipinos returning to the Philippines. On the other hand, “balikbayan boxes” sent by Filipinos who are not returning to the country should be considered “shopping boxes.”
He said overseas Filipinos returning to the country are given tax exemptions for items with value of up to P10,000, based on a presidential decree issued by then President Fidel Ramos.
Every item sent via padala package is taxable, he added.
“[If you live abroad], you can bring anything but you will be taxed. There is no exemption. If you are a balikbayan with the intention of coming back to our country, with your passport and everything, like people who have studied abroad or returning OFWs, these are the only people given the privilege to bring in goods and that will not be taxed if the value of the goods is P10,000 and below,” he said.
He denied that the actual exemption is $500 and below, saying the exchange rate then when the presidential decree was issued was about $1:PHP7 or about P3,500. He said the exemption has been raised to P10,000.
Lina said items sent via balikbayan box or padala package will need to be assessed for duties and value-added tax. He said Customs inspectors need to open the boxes to check the items unless there is a packing list and invoice attached to the box.
Overseas Filipinos can list the items and present it to a broker, which will present the list to Customs. Lina, however, noted that brokers and freight forwarders do not submit these lists to Customs “so they would not have to pay duties and taxes.”
“The duty is 1 percent and VAT is 12 percent. The duty can go higher to 3 percent, 5 percent or 10 percent, depending on item that you are bringing into this country,” he said.
