Viral: Woman asked to pay PHP16K to Customs as duty tax for bag worth PHP5K

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A woman recently revealed in a Facebook post that she was being asked by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to pay PHP16,000 as duty tax on a branded bag that was sent to her by a relative in London.

“The Gucci bag was sent to the Manila Central Post Office by the woman’s relative in London. The BOC employee who assessed the bag said it was taxed that much because the recipient was unable to show a receipt proving the bag was only worth GBP£100 or PHP5,000,” reports GMA News Online.

The woman who owns the bag had to find documentation to validate the value of the bag before she went back to the Manila Central Post Office.

In any case, the BOC is not entirely to blame for the fiasco. Under the law, when sent through the post office “only packages with a declared worth of PHP15 or below are exempted from taxes.”

The report noted: “Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost) Post Master General Josie Dela Cruz admitted this exemption range was not a realistic one considering current product prices.”

Dela Cruz lamented, “Sana makita ng ating mga legislators ang pangangailangan na sobra ng obsolete itong exemption rule na ito kailangan na natin siya i-ammend (We hope our legislators understand the need to amend this rule on tax exemption because it’s already quite obsolete).”

Dela Cruz went on clarify that “it’s BOC employees who do the assessment of items from abroad although the process was done at PHLPost offices”