Collections from fuel marking program hit P800-B, says Customs

MANILA – The government has collected more than P800 billion from the fuel marking program since it started five years ago to curb smuggling of petroleum products.

Latest data from the Bureau of Customs showed that a total of P801.55 billion in duties and excise taxes were collected under the program from Sept. 4, 2019 to Nov. 30 this year. This is equivalent to 70.48 billion liters of marked fuel products.

Speaking to reporters last week, Customs Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio said the fuel marking program is being implemented in tandem with random inspections of gas stations to heighten the government’s anti-smuggling efforts.

“Anyone can also message the bureau if they’re suspicious of a gas station,” Rubio said in Filipino.

The government uses distinct chemicals that are hard to replicate to mark petroleum products whose taxes and duties had already been paid for.

Under the law, owners must pay the duties and corresponding penalties for “diluted” fuel products, or those containing less than 95 percent of the marker. The same applies to petroleum products that are unmarked and containing counterfeit markers.

READ: Gov’t starts fuel marking to curb oil smuggling

The Duterte-era Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law, which enabled the implementation of the fuel marking program, mandated Customs to ensure that all inbound shipments of fuel are properly marked with chemical identifiers.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Internal Revenue must ensure that locally manufactured or refined petroleum products have been marked before leaving the refinery for storage and distribution.

Of the P801.55 billion collected from the fuel marking program, P771.74 billion came from duties and taxes paid to Customs, data showed.

The remaining P29.81 billion was from excise taxes generated by the BIR.