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By William B. Depasupil Reporter
The Presidential Antismuggling
Group (PASG) and the Bureau of Customs are training their eyes on at
least five oil firms, hoping to collect some P4 billion in back
duties and taxes from grossly undervalued oil importations.
Undersecretary Antonio Villar,
who heads the antismuggling group, identified the firms as Oilink
International Corp., PTT Philippines Corp., Tri-Solid Corp., Mawab
Resources Inc. and Andan Enterprises Inc.
Villar claims these firms
committed tax fraud, which under the law should be penalized eight
times the amount of the deficiency they incurred through
misdeclaration and underdeclaration.
“The government stands to
collect some P4 billion in tax deficiencies from [them],” he
added. He said they are continuously monitoring the five oil firms
on reports that Tri-Solid had shifted its operations from Subic to
Cebu.
Villar’s group earlier exposed
the tax fraud committed by Oilink, PTT Philippines, Tri-Solid, Mawab
Resources and Andan Enterprises, which forced them to pay the
government P482 million in back taxes and penalties.
Plus, if the oil firms are found
guilty of defrauding the government of duties and taxes, Villar
said, they will have to pay a total of P3.8 billion, based on the
Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines. This amount multiplied
by eight the determined revenue loss of P482 million.
Customs Commissioner Napoleon
Morales said demand letters were already sent to the five oil firms.
Morales said Oilink owes Customs
P247.718 million. Unless payment is made, he said, Customs will
auction the 8,500 metric tons of gas oil owned by the firm.
Charges have been filed against
Oilink top officials Paul Chi Ting Co, chairman; Esteher Magleo,
president; and 10 others.
The discrepancies in payments
were divulged during post-entry audit of all oil companies and bulk
shipments imported in the past three years. The demandable
deficiencies are for gas oil importation discharged from the vessel
M/T Pro-Giant in September 2004.
An investigating committee was
able to uncover that Oilink only declared and filed entry for 26,964
metric tons of the 32,492 metric tons imported. The 5,528 metric
tons of gas oil that was undeclared is rendered abandoned, since no
formal entry permit was filed for it.
This translates to P132.21
million in foregone duties and taxes. Customs is also seeking
additional payment of P221.28 million for penalties, equivalent to
eight times the revenue lost under the amended Tariff and Customs
Code.
PTT Philippines and Tri-Solid
have also hundreds of millions of pesos in tax deficiencies that are
now the subject of collection by Customs.
Morales earlier put on hold seven
additional oil shipments of Andan Enterprises and Mawab Resources,
pending payment of their back taxes and duties from previous
importations.
The two firms also face possible
investigation by the Bureau of Internal Revenue for possible tax
evasion, particularly the possibility of discrepancy in input taxes
and payment of value-added taxes.
Both firms were being
investigated for grossly undervaluing their last two oil imports by
P37 million. They denied the accusation.
Investigation showed Andan
Enterprises had wrongfully declared at $286.05 per metric ton the
value of its three entries of imported gas oil from Taiwan-based
Formosa Petrochemical Corp. It was learned that the average value of
imported gas oil amounts to over $500 per metric ton.
A similar case was discovered in
the previous gas oil imports of Mawab Resources from South Korea.
Customs records showed that Mawab had declared the value of its gas
oil imports earlier this year at $344 and $286.05 per metric ton for
its five entries that came in two shipments.
In a memorandum, Morales ordered
tighter examination of documents of oil shipments, especially those
coming from the Ports of Manila, Subic Freeport, Clark and Batangas,
which handle most of oil imports coming into the country.
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