British American Tobacco (BAT), the cigarette company which owns the Pall Mall brand, yesterday insisted that it will not pay the higher excise tax rate of P26.06 per pack as it criticized the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) for not allowing its local partner La Suerte Cigar & Cigarette Co. to withdraw cigarettes from the factory at a lower tax rate of P6.74 per pack.
BAT and La Suerte earlier asked the BIR to allow the withdrawal of Pall Mall cigarettes from their factory at a lower tax rate to replenish their inventory in the market.
BIR Commissioner Lilian Hefti has said that La Suerte can only withdraw Pall Mall cigarettes from the factory if it pays the higher tax rate of P26.06 per pack.
Hefti said the company can just file for a refund later on if the DOF decides to slap the lower tax rate on the brand.
BAT general manager Jeremy Flint stressed yesterday that the company has not agreed to pay the P26.06 per pack excise tax rate earlier slapped by the BIR.
“We have strongly protested the BIR decision to insist on the implementation of the Feb. 22, 2007 ruling of former Commissioner Jose Mario Buñag that has been clearly superseded by the Department of Finance (DOF) decision last July 24, 2007,” Flint said.
The BIR, in a Feb. 22 ruling, had slapped the higher tax rate on Pall Mall as the brand was previously sold in duty‑free shops.
The DOF, last July 24, reversed the BIR’s Feb. 22 ruling and instead slapped an excise tax rate of P6.74 per pack on Pall Mall cigarettes.