Customs collects K613mil in duties: Official

THE PNG Customs collected K613.112 million in duties and excise and K273.09 million from import goods and services tax (GST) in the first quarter of this year, Customs Chief Commissioner David Towe says.
“The revenue collected in this period has exceeded the first quarter revenue collection target by seven per cent set by the Government or K41.73 million.
“This represents a 27 per cent increase in the budget projection for the year,” he added.
Towe said the “higher than the Government budget projected revenue” collection demonstrated an increased Customs compliance by strong border control and security measures.
“Key to that is the ‘red lane intervention’ and stringent enforcement plus the prepayment facility. Customs is set to reach or exceed the Government’s overall budget projection for 2021 if the current trend of revenue collection is maintained,” he added.
Towe said the revenue collected from imports (import duties, import excise and import GST) were all slightly lower than their respective quarterly targets but revenue from inland excise and sundry collections were robust, each exceeding their respective quarterly targets thereby offsetting the shortfalls from imports revenue.
“The Customs performance for the first quarter has not been easy against the backdrop of disruptive operating environment precipitated by the Covid-19 and consequential avalanche of insecurities, uncertainties and devastations.”