PUTRAJAYA: The total revenue collection of the Royal Malaysian Customs Department as of Dec 2 this year has reached RM61.35bil.
Customs director-general Datuk Anis Rizana Mohd Zainudin said the achievement exceeded this year's revenue collection target of RM56bil set by the Finance Ministry as well as the target revision on Oct 18, which was RM61.17bil.
"As of December 2, 2024, the Customs Department has recorded revenue collection of RM61.35bil, which is a surplus of RM5.35bil compared to the original projection of RM56bil.
"In other words, the department has exceeded both the initial target of RM56bil and the revised target of RM61.17bil," she said in a press conference here on Tuesday (Dec 3).
Anis Rizana said the success was the best post-pandemic.
Anis Rizana said as a comparison for 2023, the department has recorded revenue collection up to Nov 30, 2023 of RM51.95bil compared to the current year's collection up to Nov 30, 2024 of RM60.96bil.
This shows a revenue increase of RM9.01bil, equivalent to 17.34 per cent, she said.
Anis Rizana said that as of Dec 2, 2024, the department had successfully thwarted attempts to smuggle and evade customs duties or taxes in 6,708 cases.
"These cases involved the seizure of various types of goods including taxes worth RM1.532bil. This shows an increase of 73.26 per cent, which is RM647.82mil compared to the same period in 2023," he said.
She said the five main commodities that recorded the highest value of seizures for the period January to Dec 2, 2024 were vehicles, drugs, cigarettes, liquor and textiles.
Anis Rizana said that the proud achievement was the result of reforms in the department, including digitalisation in customs transactions and the use of scanning machines with artificial intelligence (AI) features.
She said that the momentum would be maintained by the department so that sustainable achievements could be achieved through a sustainable strategy to contribute to the prosperity and development of the country.- Bernama
