COA finds P1.49B 'discrepancy' in road users' tax balance

The Commission on Audit (COA) has uncovered a P1.49 billion “discrepancy" in its audit of the collections of the road users’ tax. Based on documents obtained by government auditors, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) collected P71,887,585,394 from 2001 to 2010. However, certifications by the Bureau of Treasury (BTr) showed only P70,392,954,323 was deposited. COA recommended that the Road Board create a team of experts to trace the difference in the collections of Motor Vehicle User’s Charge (MVUC) and what was deposited to the BTr. “The discrepancies accumulated to a huge amount in a span of 10 years and these remained unreconciled up to the present. It is necessary that the Road Board coordinate with LTO and BTr to account for the P1.495 billion huge difference between the LTO and BTr records. The RB would also be assured that all MVUC funds collected went to the government," COA said. In a meeting of the Road Board on July 14, 2010, it was agreed that only the deposits as certified by the BTr will be “the basis for recognizing funds for MVUC." Auditors however pointed out that this would tend to ignore the big discrepancy in the two figures and would put in doubt that actual share of collections obtained from road users. MVUC, more commonly known as the road users’ tax, is imposed on all motor vehicles for road maintenance, installation of traffic lights and road safety devices and air pollution control. It also includes penalties imposed on trucks for overloading. COA noted that despite the discrepancy between reported collections and deposits, the Road Board Secretariat has failed to take steps to inquire into the issue even if the matter was taken up in one of the Road Board meetings. The Department of Budget and Management took a stand at a meeting last December 14 that the Board secretariat should coordinate with LTO and BTr to “identify explanations for the discrepancy of the figures". “It appears that the procedure on reporting and monitoring of revenue to the special funds provided in the RBOPM (Road Board-operating procedures manual) are not sufficient to ensure proper accounting of funds since they only require the submission of remittance advice and a report of the amounts of MVUC and overloading penalties collected and deposited," COA noted. — ELR, GMA News