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AFTER delays in its implementation the government on Friday finally started the fuel marking program which seeks to ensure oil companies have paid the correct excise taxes and import duties on their fuels.
A report posted today in the Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted a Bureau of Customs (BoC) statement as saying that the first live fuel marking was conducted at Seaoil’s bulk terminal in Mabini, Batangas.
The government’s fuel marking program, part of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act, is expected to generate P5 billion in additional revenues this year, the Inquirer quoted Department of Finance (DoF) Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III as having said earlier.
In a previous statement the Finance department said that full implementation of the fuel marking guidelines would be in the fourth quarter. The guidelines are contained in Joint Circular No. 1-2019 between the DoF, BoC and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
The circular calls on the fuel marking provider — a joint venture of SGS Philippines, Inc. and Switzerland-based SICPA SA under a five-year contract — to produce the duly-approved official marker, provide it in ready-to-use form and conduct actual fuel marking nationwide in all taxable oil products, except Jet A-1, Avgas, crude oil and LPG, according to the Inquirer.
Deputized BOC and BIR personnel, as well as the police, can seize products and arrest traders in case they found adulterated, diluted or unmarked petroleum during field testing.
The Inquirer report said the BIR will supervise field testing in refineries, their attached depots, gasoline stations and other retail outlets while the BOC will oversee fuel marking in depots, tank trucks, vessels, warehouses and other fuel-transporting vehicles.
In June member-companies of the Philippine Institute of Petroleum said they want fuel marking to be conducted only in terminals and refineries.
“In the next few months, random field testing will be conducted by the BOC, BIR and SICPA-SGS on depots, tank trucks and retail stations in order to determine the presence and dilution level of the fuel marker on fuels which are subjected to marking. This activity will continue until the market is saturated with marked fuels,” the BoC said in a statement.
“A confirmatory testing will be conducted immediately on fuels found to be unmarked or with marker levels below the prescribed dilution level and corresponding duties and taxes will be collected from oil companies found to have unmarked or diluted fuels,” the Inquirer quoted Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero as saying.
Earlier DoF estimates showed that revenue losses from excise taxes and value-added tax due to oil smuggling and misdeclaration reached P26.9 billion in 2016, almost half of the actual P52.6 billion collected by the BoC and the BIR that year.
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