The Senate has approved a third and final reading on the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act – essentially raising the tax-exempt value of balakbayan boxes to 150,000 pesos.

The 311 page bill also included many other provisions of the treatment of tax against balikbayan boxes “It is one that is most awaited by overseas Filipino workers,” noted Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto

Recto is responsible for filing Senate Bill 2913, dubbed the BBL, in August of 2015, after public outcry over the Bureau of Customs plan to open and inspect all balikbayan boxes and taxing anything above the old exempt amount of 10,000 pesos.

Rules regulating the new rule will only allow those shipping balakbayan boxes to do so three times in a single calendar year.

“This means that an OFW can send two boxes at the same time provided that their total worth is not more than P150,000. That will be counted as one shipment,” Recto said.

The boxes, however, must contain “personal and household effects only and shall neither be in commercial quantities, nor intended for barter, sale or for hire.”

“This is to prevent senders from abusing this privilege. With this privilege comes the duty to observe the law. It also comes with penalties so that smugglers won’t take advantage of it,” Recto said.

The bill also includes a provision indexing rates to inflation, “so that it will not take another quarter of a century to adjust the tax-exempt ceiling for balikbayan boxes,” Recto said.

“Every three years after the effectivity of this act, the secretary of finance, upon recommendation of the (Customs) commissioner, shall review the value herein stated and shall adjust its present value using the consumer price index as published by the Philippine Statistics Authority,” Recto quoted the provision.

The new provision will also raise the ceiling on residents who are returning abroad to 350,000 pesos of tax-exempt items. The provision only affects those who have lived abroad for 10 years or more.

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