Vigilance and proper enforcement of tax laws\u2014not tax increases\u2014resulted in the Customs Services Division\u2019s collection of at least $3 million in \u201cadditional\u201d revenue for the CNMI government in just six months. Just recently, Customs discovered undeclared hard liquor from China, undervalued used cars shipped from Guam, and attempted smuggling into the CNMI of some other items.<\/p>\n
Customs director Joe Mafnas, in an interview yesterday at the seaport, said the $3-million increase in customs collection was recorded in the first half of fiscal year 2014 compared to the first half of fiscal year 2013.<\/p>\n
The first six months of fiscal year 2014 were from October 2013 to March 2014.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are collecting more, and we believe it\u2019s not because there\u2019s increase in import but because of increased enforcement, more aggressive inspections, and changes in the way things are done here,\u201d Mafnas told Saipan Tribune.<\/p>\n
Sen. Paul Manglona (Ind-Rota) said this is an example of how the government can realize more revenue just by \u201cfully and properly enforcing tax laws\u201d rather than increasing taxes or imposing new ones.<\/p>\n
Manglona himself introduced Senate Bill 18-45 that seeks to have a permanent director for Finance\u2019s Division of Revenue and Taxation so that a person will take ownership and responsibility in enforcing the laws. The bill gives the governor flexibility in determining the Rev&Tax director\u2019s salary to entice applicants.<\/p>\n
Customs\u2019 collection of additional $3 million in just half a year is a living example of how full and aggressive enforcement of laws helps realize more revenues for the government which, in turn, would go into providing more or better health, public safety, education, and other services.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, we are more aggressive in detecting commercial fraud such as undervalued items and smuggled items,\u201d Mafnas said.<\/p>\n
Customs is one of the divisions under the Department of Finance.<\/p>\n
The Saipan Chamber of Commerce, the largest business organization in the CNMI, has also been asking the government to properly enforce laws, not only tax laws, rather than impose taxes.<\/p>\n
$8M to $9M supplemental budget<\/p>\n
Gov. Eloy S. Inos separately said yesterday that collections for the first half of 2014 were proving to be better than earlier projected.<\/p>\n
This will result in the administration\u2019s submission \u201csoon\u201d to the Legislature of an $8 million to $9 million supplemental budget for fiscal year 2014.<\/p>\n
Some $5 million of the supplemental budget will be used to complete the government\u2019s minimum $25 million payment into the retirement settlement trust fund for fiscal year 2014, while the rest will go to the government\u2019s payment of increased health insurance premiums.<\/p>\n
The House Ways and Means Committee will also soon start holding hearings to tackle the governor\u2019s $134 million budget submission for fiscal year 2015.<\/p>\n
Cars, liquor<\/p>\n
Mafnas said a vigilant Customs personnel led to a recent enforcement of proper excise and beautification tax on two used cars shipped from Guam to Saipan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cars were undervalued based on the declaration of the importer because these cars are still new. The Customs personnel checked on the Blue Book value and confirmed that they were undervalued. They were supposed to have higher value and therefore subject to higher tax than what the importer would have wanted,\u201d the Customs director said.<\/p>\n
The importer brought in a year 2008 Toyota Scion and valued it at only $1,700. Also brought in was a 2009 Nissan Sentra that the importer declared for a value of $1,900.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Blue Book places the value of the Toyota Scion at $6,000, and the Nissan Sentra at $6,600. But the importer reasoned that the cars kind of got into the water so they\u2019re not in good condition but when asked how he\u2019s going to bring the cars from the seaport to his buy-and-sell shop, he said he\u2019s going to drive them so that means they are in working condition. They were assessed the proper tax,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Customs also detected some weeks ago 15 cases of hard liquor from China that were relabeled as \u201ccooking wine\u201d so that they would be assessed a lower tax rate. Customs assessed the proper tax on the imported items.<\/p>\n
Just this Wednesday, Customs also confiscated some 40 pieces of counterfeit Burberry, Coach, and Lacoste women\u2019s wallets and purses shipped from the Philippines. The importer was fined $500, which was immediately paid. Customs will be destroying the counterfeit items, which would have raked in $14,100 if they were sold as genuine products.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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