House mulls over suspending excise tax on fuel products

Amid another looming round of oil price hikes, the House of Representatives is mulling the possibility of suspending the collection of excise taxes on fuel products for three months to slash prices by as much as P10.

The suggestion was raised during Speaker Martin Romualdez’s consultative meeting with lawmakers, officials of the Department of Energy and major players in the oil industry on Monday.

“The suggestion was to suspend excise tax collection on fuel products until December. If we suspend it, it will have to be recommended by the Speaker to the President. Only the President can suspend excise taxes on fuel products,” House Deputy Majority Leader Rep. Erwin Tulfo said in a press briefing on Monday night.

Republic Act No. 10963, or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law, provided the current rates for excise taxes and VAT on fuel products in the National Internal Revenue Code.

Suspending the excise taxes on fuel for three months is expected to shave P10 off the price of petroleum products.

“However the losses for the government are also huge, it would be P4.9 billion per month, so for three months it may reach P13 billion or up to P15 billion,” Tulfo said.

Romualdez wanted the major players in the oil industry to make some sort of sacrifice as the government will also be sacrificing revenues if there is a suspension of excise taxes on fuel products.

Lawmakers will meet with oil industry players again next week.

Global crude production cuts continued to raise domestic pump prices of petroleum products on Tuesday for the 11th consecutive week, as local oil companies implemented price hikes by more than P2 per liter.

In separate advisories, the oil companies said the prices of diesel climbed by P2.50 per liter and gasoline by P2 per liter.This marks the 10th straight week of increases for gasoline. The price of kerosene likewise rose by P2 per liter. INQ