Eastern Samar seeks release of shares in mining excise tax

MANILA, Philippines — Officials of Eastern Samar have urged the government to remit the province’s shares in excise tax from mining operations amounting to at least P100 million.

Eastern Samar legal officer Eden Ivy Rose Balagasay said that several years ago, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) started collecting data to determine the exact shares of the province from taxes paid by mining operators.

The data collection started after Gov. Ben Evardone and local officials moved for the release of the shares of the province and the town of Guiuan as well as of villages hosting mine sites.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) can only release the shares of local government units through submission of a joint certification issued by the BIR and the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) and the schedule of the corresponding shares of the beneficiary-LGU.

Evardone wrote the DOF, which oversees the BIR, and the DBM requesting the release of the province’s shares in excise tax paid by mining operators.

Balagasay along with provincial treasurer Antonia Macawile and assessor Manuel Baldono have been following up Evardone’s request with the local offices of the BIR and other agencies.

Balagasay, who represents Evardone in the interagency multipartite monitoring team for mining, said that as of last week, the BIR’s revenue accounting division in Quezon City was still processing tax data that supports the release of the exact amount due to Eastern Samar.

The amount is equivalent to 40 percent of the excise taxes paid by miners since they started operating in the province.

Balagasay said that data from the regional office of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau showed that Eastern Samar’s shares from the miners’ excise tax payments could exceed P100 million.