The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has raked in P14.3 billion in duties from 2.18 million metric tons (MT) of rice shipments that entered the country as of October 8 this year, the Department of Finance (DOF) said in a statement yesterday.
However, the BOC could lose P131.4 billion in revenues if the imposition of fuel excise is suspended.
Rey Leonardo Guerrero, customs commissioner, said revenues from January 1 to October 8 came from shipments worth a combined amount of P40.81 billion.
Preliminary data show that import duties as of the first week of October rose by 3.2 percent from P13.84 billion in the same period in 2020.
The average valuation of rice for this period only slightly increased from P18,867 per MT in 2020 to P18,898 per MT in 2021, Guerrero said during a recent DOF executive committee meeting.
“Due to the continuous decline of the price of rice in the world market since May 2021, average value of rice per metric ton increased by only 0.2 percent versus last year,” Guerrero said.
Import duties collected from rice imports beginning March 5, 2019, go to the annual P10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) as provided under Republic Act No. 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law. The RCEF is used to finance programs that will sharpen the competitiveness of palay growers.
Meanwhile, the DOF said the proposed suspension of the imposition of excise taxes on petroleum products may result in substantial revenue loss of P131.4 billion for 2022.
Antonette Tionko, DOF undersecretary, in a memorandum shared by DOF Secretary Carlos Dominguez, looked into the revenue implications of the proposal of the Department of Energy (DOE) to suspend the imposition of excise taxes on petroleum products amid increasing petroleum prices.
“Any suspension of the imposition of excise taxes should be appropriately studied as the revenue to be foregone is substantial and may affect the government’s budget for COVID-19 recovery measures,” Tionko said.
Tionko added the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law cannot be invoked to suspend excise taxes on petroleum.
The law states that for the period covering 2018 to 2020, the scheduled increase in the excise tax on fuel as imposed shall be suspended when the average Dubai crude oil price based on Mean of Platts Singapore for three months prior to the scheduled increase of the month reaches or exceeds $80 per barrel.
“The provision in the TRAIN Law was a safety net feature proposed to guard against possible fuel price shocks that may be triggered by the increase of excise taxes and other market factors. The suspension also only refers to the excise tax increases mandated under the TRAIN Law, which have already taken place on January 1 of 2018, 2019, and 2020,” Tionko said. – Angela Celis
