BOC says refund claimants may now be given outright cash

Claimants of tax refunds from the Bureau of Customs (BOC) may now be given outright cash instead of tax credit certificates (TCC), the agency announced Tuesday.

In a statement, the BOC said it recently issued Customs Administrative Order (CAO) 04-2019 or the Duty Drawback, Refund and Abatement, which streamlines guidelines for the said processes.

According to the BOC, the CAO provides that the payment of tax credit and refunds will be either through TCCs or by cash, subject to budgetary requirements.

"Previously, only (value-added tax) refunds duly approved by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) are allowed to be paid in cash..." the BOC said.

"With the advent of the CMTA and the issuance of this implementing CAO, claimants may now get their refunds thru the payment of outright cash," it added.

The Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA), a measure updating the Tariff and Customs Code, was signed into law in 2016 by then-President Benigno Aquino III.

"This eliminates the processing for the issuance of the TCCs and the subsequent processing of the utilization of said TCCs in the payment of duties and taxes," the BOC said. —Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/KBK, GMA News