BOC: 7.55B liters of oil products marked as of mid-May

Nearly half-a-billion liters of oil products was added to the volume of oil products marked as tax-paid in the first half of May as the government collected higher levy on imports to shore up revenue in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bureau of Customs (BOC) Deputy Commissioner Teddy Sandy S. Raval told the Inquirer that as of May 15, a total of 7.55 billion liters of oil was injected with chemical markers since the fuel marking program was started in September 2019.

Fuel marking breached the seven-billion-liter mark before April ended.

Raval said the same fuel marking procedures applied to imports that recently came in and were slapped higher duties by Executive Order (EO) No. 113.

“No payment, no marking. So they have to pay the new rate to be allowed marking,” Raval said.

Through EO No. 113, President Rodrigo Duterte had ordered an additional 10-percent tariff on imported crude petroleum oil and refined petroleum products, effective May 6.

This will allow the BOC to collect about P20 billion in additional revenues amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which slowed collections due to weak global trade.

The Department of Finance (DOF) this week reported that the BOC’s take of import duties and other taxes in April amounted to P33.97 billion, down 34.27 percent from actual collections a year ago and 40-percent below-target.

From January to April, the country’s second biggest revenue agency collected a total of P179.44 billion, 7.29-percent lower year-on-year as well as 13.14-percent short of its four-month goal.

The fuel marking program covered all taxable oil products, except Jet A-1, Avgas, crude oil, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

Under the fuel marking guidelines issued last year, the BOC conducts fuel marking in depots, tank trucks, vessels, warehouses and other fuel-transporting vehicles.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), meanwhile, tests in refineries, their attached depots, gasoline stations and other retail outlets.

The country’s two largest tax-collection agencies had been given police powers during field testing so they can seize adulterated, diluted or unmarked petroleum as well as arrest unscrupulous traders.

The joint venture of SGS Philippines Inc. and Switzerland-based SICPA SA had been not only producing and providing the ready-to-use official marker, but also conducting actual marking in all taxable oil products nationwide under their five-year contract.

For 2020, the government was looking at collecting an additional P20 billion in revenues through the fuel marking program.

Edited by TSB