MANILA – As the second tranche of fuel excise taxes took effect on Jan. 1, some retail stores have taken advantage and increased prices of products not related to fuel excise taxes, a Finance official said.
Department of Finance (DOF) assistant secretary Tony Lambino said during his interview on Super Radyo dzBB that they have monitored some retail stores implementing price increases on their products while using the fuel excise tax as justification.
“Kapag umiikot po ako sa retail store, meron naman po tayong mapapansin na ginagamit pong rason kahit wala namang kinalaman ang excise taxes na pinapataw natin doon sa kanilang produkto,” he said.
Such actions can be considered as profiteering, Lambino said.
“Mayroon legal definition ang profiteering, kapag lumampas po sa SRP (suggested retail price) na higher than 10 percent. Binabantayan po iyan lalo na sa prime commodities and necessities,” Lambino said.
Meanwhile, Lambino called on businesses to stop using the implementation of fuel excise taxes to gain more profit.
“Dahil ang layunin naman ho talaga natin dito is not to collect excise taxes for the sake of collection,” he said.
“At gusto naman talaga namin ay gumanda po ang infrastructure natin, para gumanda po ang health care system at tsaka ang education system natin,” Lambino added. (GMA News)
