Revenues derived from duties and taxes in this free port this year are expected to breach the P5.3-billion record in 2007, as total collections at the end of 3rd quarter 2008 already reached P4.08 billion.
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Administrator and CEO Armand Arreza said the 3rd quarter figure meant an increase of 6.41 percent over the P3.83-billion tally made in the same period last year.
With the 3rd quarter collection record just short by P1.2 billion from last year’s total, the SBMA expects to exceed the 2007 figure of P5.3-billion, he said.
“By all indications, Subic is defying the odds,” Arreza enthused. “While there is some slowdown in the global economy, we continue to make consistent growth in revenue, import, export, as well as investment and employment.”
“The continued growth of these indicators brings about the rise in the taxes and duties collected in Subic,” he said.
According to data released by the SBMA, the Bureau of Customs (BoC) reported a total cash collection of P2.97 billion from January to September 2008, while the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) showed a P1.11 billion tally.
The BoC figure represented a growth of 5.82 percent over its P2.81 billion cash collection as of 3rd quarter 2007.
The Customs office in Subic traditionally sourced its earnings from importation duties and taxes on oil, motor vehilces, general merchandise and Fedex operations.
Arreza said that despite the current economic crisis, importations by manufacturers and traders here had grown steadily in the last two years, from $1.62 billion in 2006 to $1.79 last year.
Aside from its cash collection, the BoC reported non-cash receipts worth P4.53 billion, for a total of P7.5 billion in cash and non-cash transactions from January to September.
In the nine-month period, the Subic BoC made its highest collection in September with P430.7 million.
The BIR report, meanwhile, indicated that its P1.11 billion tax collection represented an increase of 8.02 percent when compared to the P1.02 billion accumulated in the first nine months last year.
The BIR office here derived its collections from income and profit taxes, value-added tax, percentage tax and other taxes paid for by employers and employees in the Subic Bay Freeport.
The revenue collection agency also reported that its collection peaked in the 2nd quarter when it recorded P423.4 million, with P210 million collected in April alone.
Arreza said that revenue collection in Subic will further increase with the entry of more than 141 new investment projects approved by the SBMA in the last nine months. (SBMA Corporate Communications)
photo caption: Container ships unload cargo at Subic’s Sattler Pier. The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority said a steady growth in imports, as well as investments and employment, contributes to the rise of revenue collections in the Subic Bay Freeport.
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