Occidental Mindoro Rep. Leody Tarriela has filed a bill seeking to make the fuel excise tax progressive. This is to alleviate the impact of soaring fuel prices in the Philippines.
House Bill No. 3628 or the “Lower Prices and Progressive Petroleum Excise Tax of 2022” was filed on October 7. Primarily, it seeks to amend Section 43 of Republic Act No. 11469 or the Tax Reform for Acceeleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act.
Under this bill, the excise tax shall gradually decrease as fuel prices increase.
For premium gasoline, if the price per liter is at PHP 50 or less, the excise tax shall be at PHP 10. However, it shall gradually decrease by PHP 1 for every PHP 5 increase in per liter prices, until the excise tax reaches only PHP 4 when the price per liter is PHP 75 or higher.
On the other hand, for diesel, the excise tax is pegged at PHP 6 if the price per liter is at PHP 50 or less.
The tax also decreases by 50-centavo increments, until it is only at PHP 3, if the price per liter of diesel increases to PHP 75 or higher.
“If HB 3628 is enacted into law, any price increase will be cushioned by just a little. Gasoline prices will go down by as much as PHP 6 and diesel by PHP 3,” Tarriela said in a statement.
