THE government marked 1.1 billion liters of fuel last year, well below initial estimates, as it rolled out the measure billed as cutting down on tax avoidance in the industry.
The initial plan for the program was to mark 15 billion liters of petroleum products.
“[There were] 1.1 billion liters of fuel marked,” Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III told reporters Friday.
Mr. Dominguez said tax authorities recently found “one company in Davao who was (under) P5 per liter. (I said, the fuel is) obviously smuggled or adulterated.”
Fuel is marked after tax is paid on its import or withdrawal from storage facilities. If fuel is found to be unmarked, it is considered prima facie evidence of smuggling or non-compliance with tax rules.
The government expects to generate an additional P10 billion worth of revenue from the BoC this year.
BIR issued revenue memorandum circular no. 2-2020 on Jan. 3, ordering all fuel stations across the country to submit a “sworn declaration statement of inventory as of Dec. 31, 2019” of all their petroleum products by Jan. 15.
“This report shall state whether the inventory has been marked or not to serve as the initial database for monitoring and field testing,” according to the memorandum.
The government will pay for the fuel marking fee of P0.06884 per liter during the first year of implementation.
The measure was authorized under Republic Act No. 10963, or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, which was implemented in January 2018. — Beatrice M. Laforga
