The government has reinstated excise taxes on kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas after Dubai crude prices fell below the $80-per-barrel threshold, ending a three-month suspension meant to cushion consumers from higher fuel costs.
In a statement Wednesday, the Bureau of Internal Revenue said the Department of Energy certified that the one-month average price of Dubai crude oil stood at $79.45 per barrel from June 1 to 30, based on the Mean of Platts Singapore.
Following the DOE certification, the BIR said the excise tax rates under the National Internal Revenue Code automatically resumed on July 8.
The suspension was ordered under Executive Order No. 114, signed on April 16, as part of government measures to ease the impact of rising global oil prices amid tensions and conflict in the Middle East.
Under the order, the original excise tax rates are automatically restored one week after the one-month average price of Dubai crude falls below $80 per barrel, or once the three-month suspension expires, whichever comes first.
With the reinstatement, kerosene is again subject to an excise tax of ₱5.65 per liter, while LPG is taxed at ₱3.36 per kilogram. For an 11-kilogram LPG cylinder, this translates to an additional cost of nearly ₱37.
In mid-June, the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding that paved the way for a tentative peace agreement and the possible reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global oil shipping route.
The development helped ease fears of supply disruptions and pushed global oil prices back closer to pre-conflict levels.
The DOE earlier said lower global oil prices had started to affect the domestic market, although the full impact on local pump prices may take several weeks or even months to be fully reflected.
For the week of July 7 to 13, oil companies implemented price rollbacks of up to ₱1.75 per liter for gasoline and ₱1.57 to ₱3.57 per liter for diesel.
However, oil prices started climbing again this week after renewed hostilities between the United States and Iran revived concerns over possible supply disruptions in the Middle East.
US President Donald Trump declared Wednesday that the ceasefire had ended, describing the interim peace agreement as “a waste of time,” further adding uncertainty to the global oil market.