5% of gas stations prematurely implemented excise tax hike: DOE

The Department of Energy (DOE) said 444 retail stations or around 5 percent of all gas stations in the country have prematurely implemented the second tranche of excise tax under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.

In a press briefing Thursday, DOE Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said the department will issue showcause orders to these 444 oil stations asking them to explain why they implemented the tax increase so early.

He said they expected the implementation of the tax hike to start between January 15 to February 1 of this year, with the minimum requirement for crude oil inventory at 15 days for imports and 30 days for those processed by refineries.

DOE-Oil Industry Management Bureau Director Rino Abad said the agency has issued around 30 show-cause orders to these oil stations that implemented the oil excise tax hike.

Fuentebella said the DOE will validate the reports and inspect these 444 retail outlets.

There are around 8,600 stations nationwide. The DOE required all oil firms to submit their daily, monthly, and annual inventory reports ending December 31, 2018 for the agency to identify the old stocks in the market.

“Based on these reports, DOE conducts validation and inspection. Validation is looking at the documents. Inspection is total inspection of quality and quantity, to look the compliance of stations,” Fuentebella said.

The DOE official noted that all the finished goods that came out from refineries and depots at the start of the year were already slapped with higher excise tax.