MANILA: Reforms in accrediting importers and brokers transacting with the Bureau of Customs (BoC) have led to the rejection of large numbers of applicants unable to meet the new standards, the Finance department said.
In its latest Tax Watch advertisement, the Finance department said the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) accredited 14,266 importers and brokers. Out of 16,941 applications for an importers clearance certificate, it denied 2,675. BIR likewise denied 121 applications out of 1,710 applying for a brokers’ clearance certificate.
One year after the BoC cleaned up its registry, the Finance department said 1,148 importers and 364 brokers were removed from its database.
“A total of 58.9% of importers fully complied with accreditation rules,” the Finance department said.
The Finance department, on Feb. 6 last year, issued Department Order (DO) 12-2014 requiring importers and brokers to secure a BIR Importer Clearance Certificate (BIR-ICC) and a BIR-brokers clearance certificate (BCC) as a requisite for accreditation with the BoC.
The new system aims to support the government’s goal of improving accountability and tax compliance.
Importers were originally given 90 days to comply with the new rule.
Importers and brokers who failed to beat the deadline are treated as new applicants.
