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Friday, March 29, 2024

BoC places Skyjet under government control

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The Customs bureau on Monday placed a Skyjet aircraft under its custody for not paying P90 million in duties and taxes to the government.

Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña Jr. ordered the seizure of the P780.8 million worth British-made (BAE 146-100) plane after its operator failed to pay duties and taxes for its importation last year.

The bureau´s district collector at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport ordered the aircraft to be forfeited also for violating Sections 224 (Power to Inspect and Visit), 400 (Goods to be Imported through Customs Office), 401 (Importation Subject to Goods Declaration), and 405 (Liability of Importer for Duties and Taxes) of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.

¨The aircraft was first alerted on March 29, 2017 by Collector [Carmelita] Talusan as then district collector of Port of Subic and requested for a Letter of Authority to demand proof of payment of duties and taxes as no record of any import entry or warehousing entry was filed by the owners,¨ said Lapeña.

The owner and the present management of the 80-seater four-engine jet, Magnum Air (Skyjet), has consistently cooperated and participated in all legal proceedings conducted by the Bureau of Customs.

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According to Magnum Air, it purchased the plane from its previous owner without knowledge that it has unsettled tax obligations.

Based on reports, the aircraft operator was a former registered locator of Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority but was delisted and has ceased operations in 2014.

“Presently, the aircraft is forfeited in favor of the government after finding that its importation was attended with fraud and for being used in commercial flights since its importation without payment of customs duties and taxes,” Lapeña said.

Magnum Air, Inc. is liable to pay to the bureau an estimated of P90,514,936 for the aircraft customs duties and taxes excluded of penalties and charges. It has filed an appeal against the forfeiture order of the Port of NAIA and is now pending at the District III’s Legal Service Office.

The company said that it is willing to comply with any lawful decision “that may arise from these seizure proceedings which resulted from the previous management’s illegal acts.”

Magnum has filed a case of syndicated estafa as early as February 2016 against the previous management for illegal acts and other irregularities. A copy of the complaint has been submitted to BoC in the seizure proceedings.

Upon finality of the Order of Forfeiture, Lapena said the Port of NAIA will proceed with the public auction of aircraft, which will be the first auction of an aircraft.

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