The Department of Finance (DOF) is proposing a P2-billion budget in 2018 to implement the Bureau of Customs’ (BOC) fuel marking program, one of the tax reform endeavors of the Philippine government to minimize smuggling of petroleum products and boost revenue collection.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said the program, which is set for rollout next year, is expected to generate additional revenues from fuel taxes.
Finance assistant secretary Mark Joven said implementing the fuel marking program will help plug the estimated P25 billion to P40 billion in forgone revenues due to smuggling and misdeclaration of petroleum products.
The proposed budget is not yet final, however, with project bidding yet to be undertaken, Joven said. He added that the P2-billion budget proposal will be requested as a supplemental budget and not as part of the 2018 proposed budget of DOF and its attached agencies.
Under the fuel marking system, a particular mark will be placed on oil products, both locally produced and imported, to indicate that taxes on these products have been paid.
Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña said a technical working group has been created to execute the fuel marking program.
“We want to realize immediately the mechanics on how to get the service provider on that. It could be [bid] out, it can be build-operate-transfer, mechanics like that. The faster the better,” he said.
BOC last September asked providers of fuel-marking products and services to hold a technical presentation and help the agency implement its fuel marking program.
On September 15, BOC Port Operations Service director James Layug announced that BOC is drafting the policies and guidelines for implementing the program.
The mandatory fuel marking system is part of the first package of the proposed tax reform bill endorsed by the DOF for congressional approval.
Image courtesy of renjith krishnan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
