Govt won't lift excise tax on gas, diesel due to P43.6B possible revenue loss

MANILA, Philippines — The government is not keen on lifting the excise tax on gasoline and diesel as it could incur up to P43.6 billion in revenue losses over three months, the Department of Finance said Tuesday. In a press conference in Malacañang, Finance Undersecretary Karlo Fermin Adriano said the suspension of excise tax on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and kerosene would result in an estimated P4.1 billion in foregone revenues for three months. "Now, if you decide to include a suspension of diesel and gasoline and LPG and kerosene on top, it will be around P43.6 billion in losses in three months," Adriano said. Adriano said there would be an additional value-added tax (VAT) collection of P13 to P14 billion due to higher fuel prices, but that would not be enough to offset the potential revenue losses from a full suspension. "Again, if you consider full suspension of diesel and gasoline, if you include it, again, the total losses will be P43.6 billion. And your additional VAT collection will be around P13 to P14 billion. And then there’s a negative revenue loss of around P30 billion," he said.

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