Starting December 25, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) will not impose duties and taxes on some balikbayan boxes sent by overseas Filipinos to their relatives back home.

The BOC will exempt consolidated shipments from those deemed to be "Qualified Filipinos While Abroad" from duties and taxes, up to three times in one year, as long as all three shipments' cumulative value does not exceed P150,000, and contain only personal effects and household goods.

"Qualified Filipinos," according to Customs Administrative Order (CAO) 05-2016, include:

- Holders of valid passports issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and certified by Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) or Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) for overseas employment purposes regardless of profession;

- Non-resident Filipinos who have established permanent residency abroad but retained their Filipino citizenship; and,

- Resident Filipino citizens who temporarily stay abroad (may include holders of student visa, investors’ visa, tourist visa, and similar visas which allow them to establish temporary stay abroad).

Interested parties need to fill up an information sheet which the customs bureau will upload to their website by December 25, and submit a few documents to their chosen package forwarder, including:

- Photocopy of the page of their Philippine passport with personal information, picture and signature, or photocopy of their foreign passport with personal information, picture and signature plus proof of copy of dual citizenship; and,

- Invoice, receipt or equivalent document covering the goods in the balikbayan box, if any.

International forwarders or deconsolidators will submit the documents in electronic format to their local counterpart, which will in turn submit the documents to the BOC, which will then earmark qualified shipments for exemption.

However, the BOC warned OFWs against sending items intended for sale.

"Nananawagan [kami] na maging honest sa ating declaration sa information sheet dahil yun under oath...under the penalty, under perjury, so kung mahuli tayo, pwede kayong kasuhan," said Althea Acas, BOC modernization project manager.

In a statement, BOC Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon called on forwarders and deconsolidators to follow guidelines, and recognize "the importance of balikbayan boxes…[which] symbolize the hardship of our overseas Filipino workers, and the love of Filipinos abroad for their families here in the country."

Acas further urged the public to refrain from abusing a privilege that primarily aims to help OFWs.

CAO 05-2016, recently signed by BOC and the Department of Finance, serves as the implementing rules of Section 800 (g) of the Customs and Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA).

Balikbayan boxes which were not brought into the country through consolidated shipments are not covered by the order. --with reports from Bettina Magsaysay, ABS-CBN News