SBMA: Highest revenues in 16 years at P6.68B

Revenues collected at the Subic Bay Free Port Zone last year hit its highest in 16 years, state-run Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) said. In a statement issued over the weekend, Armand Arreza, SBMA administrator and chief executive officer, said cash collections of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Bureau of Internal Revenues (BIR) at the Subic Bay free port last year totaled P6.68 billion, almost a fifth higher than collections of P5.60 billion in 2009. “The collections last year also topped Subic’s 16-year revenue collection record as well," Arreza added. The target collection of P6.14 billion for 2010 was exceeded by almost a tenth, Arreza said. The BOC contributed P4.97 billion or almost three-fourths of collections at the free port last year. Customs collections in November last year, amounting P501.59 million, was the highest ever monthly collection at the free port, Arreza said. Noncash collections from government-to-government transactions last year reached P3.42 billion, up 16 percent year-on-year. Corporate taxes and e-ACTS Arreza said the implementation of the Enhanced Automated Cargo Transfer System (e-ACTS) since September last year “not only boosted Subic’s campaign against smuggling and diversion of cargo, but also enhanced the collection of proper Customs duties and other revenues." The e-ACTS electronically synchronizes and secures cargo transit between the Subic free port and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and the Port of Manila. Arreza added that the BIR’s collections increased even as the SBMA since the second quarter of last year directly released the 2-percent share of corporate taxes to contiguous local government units (LGUs) just next to the free port. “This only means that we are successful in widening our tax base in Subic, as we take in more investments and create more jobs," Arreza said. Previously, corporate taxes — 5 percent of gross income — are paid by Subic free port locators to the BIR, which in turn remits them to the national treasury. The Department of Budget and Management should then release the share of LGUs, who had been complaining that they do not regularly receive their share. Under Republic Act (RA) No. 9400, which amended RA 7227 or the Bases Conversion and Development Act of 1992, three-fifths of the corporate tax collection must be remitted to the national government, while the remainder should be transmitted to the SBMA for distribution to contiguous LGUs, namely Olongapo City, the municipalities of Castillejos, San Antonio, San Marcelino and Subic in Zambales, as well as Dinalupihan, Hermosa and Morong in Bataan. – MRT/VS, GMA News