DOF: 1.1B liters of fuel marked after correct taxes paid

The volume of oil products injected with the chemical signifying correctly paid excise taxes and import duties already breached the one-billion liter mark ahead of the fuel marking program’s full implementation next month, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said.Dominguez told reporters on Friday that to date, 1.1 billion liters of fuel were already marked.The Bureau of Customs (BOC) last week said it was targeting to collect P10 billion in additional revenues from the fuel marking program this year. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), meanwhile, started this month monitoring gas stations’ inventories.

By Feb. 3, all retailed diesel, gasoline and kerosene were expected to be injected with a chemical marker serving as proof that the sellers paid the correct customs duties for imported products and other taxes if refined here.

The fuel marking program, which formed part of the revenue-generating measures under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act, was supposed to be implemented last year.

Department of Finance (DOF) officials last year estimated the total volume of fuel for marking could reach about 15.2 billion liters—6.8 billion liters for the BOC and 8.4 billion liters for the BIR.

Under the joint fuel marking guidelines issued last year, the BOC leads fuel marking in depots, tank trucks, vessels, warehouses and other fuel-transporting vehicles, while the BIR oversees testing in refineries, their attached depots, gasoline stations, and other retail outlets. —Ben O. de Vera INQ