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The Customs Office (BoC) collected more than P12.83 billion in taxes on petroleum products in November, the Department of Finance (DoF) reported on Thursday.
In a statement, the Finance Department said the amount was a 54.1 percent increase from P8.33 billion in the same period last year as a result of the increase in diesel and gasoline imports.
“In its report to Finance Secretary Carlos Domínguez 3, the BoC said that the increase in revenues was mainly due to the corresponding increase in the collection of excise duties on petroleum products,” he added.
These excise duties amounted to P8.97 billion for the month, an increase of 88.7 percent year-on-year from P4.76 billion.
By volume, fuel imports increased 32.1 percent to 1.1 billion kilograms (kg) from 829.4 million kg in the same month of 2019.
Crude oil imports were just 381.8 million kg during the period, a decrease of 51.8 percent from the 792.7 million kg imported last year.
According to the DoF, the Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. refinery site in Batangas province, which was closed in August, would be turned into an import terminal.
“Oil refineries in Asia, North America and Europe have also permanently closed their facilities following the decline in global demand for fuel by 30 percent amid the global economic depression resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic ( coronavirus disease 2019), “he said.
During the month, the volume of diesel imports reached 698.8 million kg, a 60 percent increase from 436.9 million kg last year.
The volume of gasoline imports also increased by 55.7 percent to 259.2 million kg from 166.4 million kg.
Imports of kerosene and other petroleum products increased 354.4 percent from 1.28 million kg to 5.8 million kg.
Jet fuel imports fell 71 percent to 14.6 million kg from 50.2 million kg after the pandemic forced governments to impose restrictions on international travel.
Customs also reported that in the first 11 months, it collected P493.32 billion in fuel taxes, exceeding its revised target of P462.78 billion by 6.6 percent.
Fuel import revenue growth at the end of November showed an increase of 1.6 percent to P133.4 billion from P131.4 billion.
“The spike in excise duty collection by 25.8 percent from P72.9 billion last year to P91.7 billion represented growth in revenue despite the drop in fuel import volume of 12.7 million. from kg in 2019 to 11.67 million kg this year, said the BoC, ”said the DoF.
As a result of the reduction in global demand, the value of fuel imports also fell by 34.4 percent, it added.
The value of fuel imports in January to November reached P250.52 billion, lower than the P381.97 billion in the same period in 2019.
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