THE fuel-marking program has generated P126.51 billion so far from duties and taxes on fuel products since the program was launched in September 2019, according to the Department of Finance (DoF).
The Bureau of Customs (BoC) collected P107.77 billion worth of duties and taxes as of Sept. 3, according to a DoF report sent to reporters over the weekend.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) generated P18.74 billion in excise taxes on fuel products between December and Aug. 20.
The two agencies have processed 12.05 billion liters of fuel products as of Aug. 27.
Diesel accounted for 62% or 7.5 billion liters, gasoline 37.4% or 4.5 billion liters and kerosene made up the remainder at 62 million liters.
The fuel marking program aims to deter oil smuggling by injecting the products with a special dye to signify tax compliance. The absence of the dye is deemed prima facie evidence that the fuel was smuggled.
Starting Sept. 4, the two agencies started collecting a fuel marking fee of P0.06884 per liter, inclusive of value-added tax, charged on all manufactured, refined or imported petroleum products.
The DoF, the BoC and BIR issued Joint Memorandum Order (JMO) 1-2020 dated Aug. 28 to lay out the guidelines on how the fee will be collected. The government subsidized the fees in the first year of implementation and companies will now have to shoulder the costs over the next four years.
“The funds will be used solely to defray cost of marking services for the second to fifth year of the implementation of the Fuel Marking Program,” the BoC said in a statement over the weekend. — Beatrice M. Laforga