Palace: Limiting VAT on fuel among last options

Malacañang admitted Wednesday it has not quite closed the door yet on moves seeking to curb the value-added tax (VAT) – especially on fuel products – to ease the burden of rising world oil prices. But Presidential Communications Operations Office head Herminio Coloma Jr. said such an option will be one of the last, as the government needs the revenues from the VAT. “Hindi natin sinasabing walang pag-asa yan. Yan ay isa pa rin sa menu of options na naririyan nguni’t sa ngayon hindi yan kino-consider na prayoridad. Ang overall fiscal position ng pamahalaan, nasa deficit," he said in an interview on dzXL radio. (We are not saying removing the VAT is hopeless. It is still in our menu of options but for now we do not consider it a priority. Besides, our government needs the VAT’s revenues because it is still operating at a deficit.) The government earlier refused to accommodate calls by militant transport groups to remove or at least trim the VAT for fuel, to bring down fuel prices. “Bagama’t maraming nagsasabi malaki ang nakolekta sa VAT, hindi pa rin sapat ang revenue natin para sa ating budgetary requirements," Coloma said. Coloma added that while many have said that the government should get much revenues from VAT, this is still not enough to fill the budgetary requirements. On the other hand, Coloma said the Palace is in favor of a proposal in the House of Representatives to compel oil firms to disclose their price formulas to the public. Earlier this week, Representatives Rufus and Maximo Rodriguez filed a bill that would compel oil companies to reveal their pricing formula. House Bill 4416 seeks to compel oil firms to report to the Department of Energy (DOE) a “detailed calculation" of how they came up with the retail prices of gas and diesel per liter as well as “how much they earn per liter." "Mainam din siguro magkaroon ng more openness and transparency from oil companies sa pagbigay ng information sa publiko para maunawaan ang price movement na nagaganap," Coloma said. — LBG/RSJ, GMA News