Immediate relief from rising fuel prices is being sought but it will also mean a loss of revenue amounting to hundreds of billions of pesos.
SENATOR Grace Poe has filed a bill seeking to suspend and reduce excise taxes on petroleum products for six months should the price of Dubai crude oil continue to soar.
Currently, Republic Act No. 10963, or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN Act) imposes an excise tax of P6 per liter of diesel, P10 per liter of gas, and P3 per liter of LPG.
Should Poe’s Senate Bill No. 2445 be approved, it will automatically suspend the collection of excise taxes while retaining the 12% value-added tax on the sale of both diesel and gasoline fuel products.
However, the bill also has the condition when “the average Dubai crude oil price based on Mean Platts Singapore for three months prior to the scheduled increase of the month reaches or exceeds USD 80 per barrel.”
“Layunin ng panukalang batas na ito na babaan ang gastusin sa gasolina ng bawat konsyumer. Ang bawat pisong matitipid ay dagdag sa bulsa ng mamamayang Pilipino,” said Poe.
Earlier in the month, Committee chairman Albay Rep. Joey Salceda also sought to suspend the imposition of excise taxes on diesel and kerosene under House Bill No. 10438.
Salceda argued that “diesel being a poor man’s transport fuel affects mostly the tricycle, motorcycle delivery riders, farmers and jeepney drivers who use this fuel.”
According to the Department of Finance, under Poe’s bill, the government is seen to lose P131 billion in revenues in 2022 alone.
“Any suspension of the imposition of excise tax should be appropriately studied as the revenue to be foregone is substantial and may affect the government’s budget for COVID-19 recovery measures,” said Finance Undersecretary Antonette Tionko.
To this, Poe pointed out that the administration’s Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (Create) Law has forgone revenues estimated at P251 billion in the first two years.
“If the government can afford P251 billion for big companies, why can’t it do the same for jeepney drivers, delivery riders, and everybody else who [has] to go to work and is forced to bring his vehicle because there’s not enough public transportation,” the senator said.
Tags: #ExciseTaxes, #economy, #transportation, #SenGracePoe