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By Chino S. Leyco, Reporter
THE government has lifted exemptions from
payment of excise tax on finished petroleum products and sin items,
the Bureau of Internal Revenue said Tuesday.
BIR Commissioner Lilian B. Hefti said the agency
decided to remove outright excise tax exemptions enjoyed by
manufacturers of petroleum products, tobacco and alcohol items
intended for export and sale to international carriers or to
tax-exempt entities or agencies.
“While the government recognizes the immunity
from taxation and other tax privileges enjoyed by certain persons or
entities provided under the National Internal Revenue Code and other
special laws, as well as those granted under their own respective
charters or tax treaties, conventions and other international
agreements, it is our declared policy to regulate the grant of tax
relief in order to prevent possible abuses,” Hefti said in a
released regulation.
Under the new scheme, Hefti said all withdrawals
of alcohol, tobacco and petroleum products would be subject to
excise tax.
Hefti also said lifting the exemptions would
minimize incidents of reported diversions of declared articles. It
would also disparage some taxpayers from their practice of delaying
the prescribed submission and full liquidation of their claimed
tax-exempt shipments after immediately availing themselves of
outright tax exemption.
Last year, the bureau’s excise tax collection
declined 5.52 percent year on year to P55.04 billion, or short of
target P58.72 billion due to drop in inventories of cigarette
manufacturers in anticipation of the 8-percent increase in excise
tax.
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