P20-B increase in oil tax collections seen

The government expects to raise an additional P20 billion from import duties and excise taxes slapped on petroleum products this year even as “fear” among oil firms already deterred smuggling and tax evasion ahead of the fuel marking program’s full implementation.

“This is the first time an administration is undertaking a fuel marking program that covers the entire archipelago. In 2016, the estimated revenue loss for government from smuggled fuel products was P27-44 billion. With the full implementation of this program, we expect smuggling and misdeclaration of petroleum products to be greatly reduced, if not totally eradicated, and revenue collections to dramatically increase,” Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said in a speech during the Bureau of Customs’ (BOC) 118th anniversary celebration last Friday.

“Beyond plugging leakages, the fuel marking program will help deter the entry of substandard products, safeguard the integrity of automotive and heating fuels, and shield vehicles from the damaging effects of adulterated oils. This will not only be good for the government and for our consumers. It will likewise enhance environmental protection,” Dominguez added.

Finance Undersecretary Antonette C. Tionko later told reporters that all oil companies have been cooperating with the BOC and the Bureau of Internal Revenue even as the full implementation of the fuel marking program will start by the middle of this month.

So far, 2.4 billion liters of various fuel products were already injected with the chemical marker signifying correct payments of excise levy for locally refined products and tariffs in the case of imports.

Tionko said the Department of Energy had estimated an annual volume of 23-26 billion liters of oil products in the country.

In the case of the BOC, Assistant Commissioner Vincent Philip C. Maronilla said their collections of import duties from oil already rose to P14.5 billion last year from P12 billion in 2018. —Ben O. de Vera INQ