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By Chino S. Leyco Reporter
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)
will examine whether the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and the
Lopez-owned utility’s independent power producers are paying
correct taxes.
Lilian Hefti, the bureau’s
commissioner, on Thursday announced that they also will check
whether other distributors of electricity like Meralco and the
National Power Corp. (Napocor) and the National Transmission Corp. (TransCo)
are presumably taking advantage of whatever loopholes that may exist
in the government’s revenue collection.
“We’re reviewing now the
pass-thru provision, which is under [an] existing circular of 2005.
We’ll see how collections are being monitored in every step, from
generation, then transmission, and distribution,” Hefti told
reporters.
She said a new circular will be
issued within the next three months.
“We already have an existing
circular, we’re checking the implementation side of it. We’ll
see if we can issue [a new one] within the year, maybe in the next
three months [we can],” Hefti added.
During the examination of
compliance with tax laws by Meralco and its independent power
producers, the other distributors of electricity, Napocor and
Transco, the Internal Revenue chief said “petroleum companies
might be hit in the process.”
The announcement of the tax
review came on the heels of allegations of “overpricing” of the
cost of electricity by Meralco and of a reported attempt by the
government to take over the country’s biggest power distributor.
On Wednesday, the Lopezes said
they will not hand over control of Meralco to the government without
a fight, or without first filling its pockets full if it stands to
lose the battle.
Oscar Lopez, First Gen Corp.
chairman, said if the state pension fund Government Service
Insurance System (GSIS) headed by Winston Garcia is interested in
the Lopez Group’s stake in Meralco, then Garcia should come up
with an offer.
“At the right price, we can
sell,” he said. The Lopez Group controls 33.4 percent of the
utility.
Meralco and Napocor had blamed
each other for the high power rates in the country. Meralco claimed
that Napocor power rates are higher than those of its power plants.
Napocor said its rates are more expensive because Meralco was buying
fuel from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market during peak hours
when the prices were high, and from its independent power producers
during off-peak hours. Napocor is Meralco’s biggest supplier of
power.
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