(DC file photo)
MANILA – The Bureau of Internal Revenue on Monday implemented a renewed suspension of excise taxes on liquefied petroleum gas and kerosene following a fresh surge in global oil prices.
The BIR issued Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 100 to implement Executive Order No. 125, which President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issued on Sept. 25.
Under the order, excise taxes on LPG are fully suspended except when the fuel is used as raw material for petrochemical production or for motive power. Kerosene is also exempt from excise tax during the suspension, except when used as aviation fuel.
The measure was triggered after the Department of Energy certified that the one-month average Dubai crude oil price based on the Mean of Platts Singapore reached USD99.41 per barrel from Aug. 13 to Sept. 11, exceeding the USD80 threshold prescribed by law.
Regular excise tax rates will automatically return one week after the one-month average Dubai crude price falls below USD80 per barrel, as certified by the DOE, or after three months from the order’s effectivity, whichever comes first. This mechanism is consistent with the rules used for the earlier suspension this year.
The DOE, BIR and Bureau of Customs were also directed to conduct an inventory of LPG and kerosene stocks existing when the order took effect.
The government previously suspended excise taxes on the two petroleum products in April after oil prices surged. That suspension ended in July after the DOE certified that the one-month average Dubai crude price had dropped below the USD80 threshold.
