About 279 retail stations of Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and PTT Philippines began collecting higher fuel excise taxes under the third tranche of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law, according to the Energy Department.
“Both Shell and PTT have implemented TRAIN. Shell has 267 stations [that] implemented while PTT has nine,” Energy Assistant Secretary Leonido Pulido III said.
Pulido said the Oil Industry Management Bureau was validating the report.
The third and final tranche of the TRAIN law imposed additional excise taxes of P1 for gasoline, P1.50 for diesel and P1.00 for kerosene. The adjustments brought the total excise taxes on gasoline to P10 per liter, diesel to P6 per liter and kerosene to P5 per liter.
Energy Undersecretary Jesus Posadas earlier said the oil companies should follow the standard protocol in complying with the higher excise tax for petroleum products under the TRAIN law.
Posadas said the oil companies should have exhausted their 2019 inventories prior to imposing the higher excise tax in 2020.
Only new inventories in 2020, directly imported or locally produced by refineries, are covered by the third tranche of the TRAIN law.
“That’s always the protocol. For the additional excise, they would have to exhaust the oil inventories first,” Posadas said.
The Energy Department issued show-cause orders to oil companies last year for implementing the higher taxes prior to the depletion of their old inventories.
“We are ensuring that our consumers do not become subjects of profiteering,” Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said.
“The funds to be raised from these collections will be invested in the people through key infrastructure projects, intensified social development and other priority projects of the government,” Cusi said.
