9 fuel companies compliant with fuel marking program

MANILA, Philippines — Nine oil companies have started to comply with the Fuel Marking Program, enabling the government to effectively monitor their tax compliance, the Department of Finance (DOF) said over the weekend.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said nine companies have allowed the government to infuse markers into their petroleum products.

These are Unioil Petroleum Philippines Inc., Chevron Philippines Inc., Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc., Seaoil Philippines Inc., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Insular Oil Corp., Filoil Energy Co. Inc., PTT Philippines Corp., and Petron Corp.

According to the Bureau of Customs, about 2.05 billion liters of fuel have already been marked as of Jan. 18. This includes 600 million liters marked by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

The BOC said additional fuel marking activities are scheduled in more oil facilities and depots nationwide.

The fuel marking program is part of Republic Act 10963 or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law.

Under the program, petroleum products for domestic consumption with proof of payment of taxes will be injected with markers.

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) last August formally commenced the implementation of the program with the first live marking of petroleum products at Seaoil Bulk Terminal in Mabini, Batangas.

Earlier, the BOC said it expects all fuel companies to be compliant with the fuel marking program by Feb. 3, as it will start conducting random field tests in oil facilities and depots nationwide.

To prepare for this, the BIR ordered all gasoline stations nationwide to submit an inventory of their petroleum products as of Dec. 31, 2019. 

The fuel marking program utilizes an official fuel marker, a unique chemical marker detectable at a molecular level, allowing for authorities to test, identify, and distinguish petroleum products with paid excise taxes in the market from those without.

Through this method, the government seeks to curb oil smuggling and misdeclaration of petroleum products and to increase revenue collection from taxable imported and locally refined petroleum products.

Estimates from the DOF showed that the government loses about P40 billion annually due to oil smuggling. The DOF said earlier the government wants to plug at least half of this or P20 billion through fuel marking.