DOE deploys inspectors to deter oil firms from TRAIN “abuse”

FILE: Sec. Alfonso Cusi (Photo: Department of Energy)cusi

MANILA — Oil companies, watch out.

The Oil Industry Management Bureau (OIMB) has deployed a team of inspectors to randomly check the inventories of service stations and depots nationwide.

This is to see if the oil firms are complying with the guidelines set by the Department of Energy (DOE) on the newly implemented Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.

The new law exacts higher excise taxes on petroleum products.

The DOE said oil companies must disclose their existing fuel stocks as of Dec. 31, 2017 and that the new excise taxes should only be imposed once these stocks have been replenished.

It added the inspectors, using the so-called inspection report form (IRF), must properly introduce themselves to the service stations and fuel depots and inform them of their purpose — that is, to acquire data on inventories and subsequent withdrawals from these inventories, making sure the excise taxes are applied only to new stocks.

Authorized representatives of the fuel station or depot inspected must sign a conforme on the IRF.

“Violators may be administratively subjected to the cancellation of their Certificates of Compliance (COC),” warned DOE Secretary Alfonso Cusi.

Cusi said criminal cases, such as estafa and profiteering could be filed in court for violations of the Oil Regulation Law and the Revised Penal Code.

Cusi added violators would be referred to the Bureau of Internal Revenue for a special audit. (DOE PR)