Shell Pilipinas plans to recover P3.49-b tax payment after securing favorable ruling from CTA

By Alena Mae S. Flores

SHELL Pilipinas Corp. said Friday it plans to recover P3.49 billion in payment to the Bureau of Customs after receiving a favoring ruling from the Court of Tax Appeals on its past alkylate imports.

Shell said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on May 2 it received a copy of the decision dated April 27, 2023 from the CTA Special Second Division. The CTA ruled that alkylate is not subject to excise tax and granted Shell’s amended petition for review dated Oct. 5, 2012. The CTA invalidated Document No.

M-059-2012 dated June 29, 2012 issued by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue as well as the letter dated Oct.

1, 2012 of the Customs Collector of the Port of Batangas which sought to impose taxes on Shell’s previous alkylate imports.

Shell said the CTA decision affirmed its position that alkylate is not subject to excise tax.

The company previously imported alkylate as a blending component for unleaded gasoline. Shell is no longer importing alkylate.

“Thus, the CTA prohibited the government from collecting, in any manner, excise taxes and value-added tax on Shell’s alkylate importations,” the company said.

“Once the decision becomes final, SHLPH will consider the necessary legal actions to recover amounts previ- ously paid to the government under protest for its past alkylate importations,” it said. Shell remitted P3.49 billion under protest in 2021, representing alleged excise taxes and value added tax on fuel blending components used in its refinery from 2014 to 2020 and paid to the Bureau of Customs. The country’s second biggest oil company said it paid BOC under protest for the excise tax and VAT relative to alkylate importations.

Gross loans increased 12.5 percent year-on-year, driven by a 12.7-percent rise in commercial loans and 11.8-percent expansion in consumer loans. Consumer loans business banked on a 30-percent growth in net credit card receivables and 10.7-percent rise in auto loans.

Total deposits grew by 10.8 percent to P2.3 trillion from a year ago, which low-cost current and savings accounts accounting for 62.1 percent. Trading and foreign exchange gains reached P2.1 billion, while fee income rose 13.4 percent to P4.1 billion.

Operating expenses climbed by 13.5 percent to P16.9 billion on the back of higher taxes, technology spending and transaction-related expenses. The strong revenue growth offset the impact of rising expenses, thus improving the cost-to- income ratio to 51.6 percent from 54.1 percent from the year before.