BIR exempts Pilipinas Shell from paying excise tax on raw gasoline components

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has exempted Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. from paying excise tax on its imports of light catalytically cracked gas (LCCG) and catalytically cracked gas (CCG) that were subjected by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) a levy of P4.35 per liter.

The exemption was made after the BIR handed down its ruling that the questioned imported products are intermediate or raw gasoline components and not finished gasoline products and therefore, not subject to excise tax.

In a letter to Customs commissioner Antonio Bernardo, BIR commissioner Guillermo Parayno said that henceforth, excise tax should no longer be imposed on any future importation of the said products by the oil company.

The BIR ruling, which was sought by the Pilipinas Shell also exempted all other gasoline companies that import LCCG and CCG from paying the excise tax for their importation.

Bernardo has issued a memorandum order advising all port districts to refrain from collecting the excise tax on the importation of the raw gasoline components in compliance with the request of Parayno.

It could not be immediately determined the exact volume of LCGG and CCG importations the gasoline companies make a year, nor the amount of excise taxes that were already collected by the BOC.

The BIR ruling was likewise silent on the excise tax that was already paid to the BOC by the importing gasoline companies for their previous importations of raw gasoline components.

In another development, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has advised the BOC that it has issued an import clearance to OM Manufacturing Phils Inc. for the importation of 240 metric tons of lead solder dross/tin alloy, a recycling material containing hazardous substance.

The clearance, according to the BOC, was pre-conditioned to the bill of lading and the movement document that must be submitted to the DENR central office within five days after the shipment’s arrival from Thailand.