Gov't needs to be 'creative' for other revenue sources amid fuel excise tax suspension talks — Customs

The government’s plan for Congress to give President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. emergency powers to suspend the collection of fuel excise tax could lead to lower state revenues which should compel the revenue-collecting agencies to be “creative” to offset potential foregone collections, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) said Tuesday.

Customs Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno told reporters that the BOC collected P220 billion to P260 billion last year from excise tax on imported petroleum products.

Combining VAT or value-added tax to the equation, Nepomuceno said the BOC’s revenues from petroleum products amounted to P330 billion to P400 billion in 2025 or 30% to 40% of its about P1 trillion collection in 2025.

However, he said that it is still difficult to estimate the impact on revenues of the Middle East conflict as well the planned suspension of fuel excise tax collection as it  duties collections will depend on the actual volume and prices of petroleum products to be imported this year.

“The BOC is supposed to collect P1.003 trillion this year and the BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) is three times of our collection target… so if our revenues from petroleum will be reduced because of the Middle East conflict, we should be creative in looking for other sources,” the Customs chief said.

“Among these are the non-traditional sources such as the proceeds of public auctions,” he added.

The BOC turned over P102.468 million worth of sales generated from the auction of nine out of 13 Discaya-linked vehicles seized by the bureau.

The Department of Energy (DOE) is backing the proposed measure allowing the President to suspend the collection of excise tax on imported petroleum products. 

The Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DEPDev), on the other hand, said the suspension of fuel excise tax could reduce pump prices by P6 per liter for diesel and P10 per liter for gasoline. 

The House ways and means committee on Tuesday approved an unnumbered substitute bill allowing Marcos to suspend or reduce excise tax on fuel amid the conflict between the US-Israel forces and Iran. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News