Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. (PSPC) paid P46 million in excise tax for its first shipment of catalytic cracked gasoline (CCG) and light CCG this year at the Port of Batangas.

In an interview, Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales said the amount paid by Shell to the Bureau of Customs (BoC) was based on the P4.35 per liter excise tax rate for CCG and light CCG that arrived late last week.

Morales said that the payment was made “under protest” pending the Court of Tax Appeals' (CTA) ruling whether these two petroleum products should be subjected to tax.

“The excise tax paid was included in the revenue collection of the Port of Batangas. If Shell wins in the (tax) court, they can just file a tax credit," he said.

The BoC is hopeful that the CTA will not issue another injunction after the temporary restraining order (TRO) stopping the bureau from hold Shell oil shipments for not paying the contested tax lapses on February 9.

“All the shipments of Shell are being released. We cannot put them on hold because of the TRO issued by the court. We have just to wait for the TRO to lapse but if it did not release an injunction order by that time, we will seize all of their products,” Morales said.

He reiterated that Customs is standing by its early decision to implement the law and the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines (TCCP), allowing the agency to collect P7.3 billion from Shell in its back excise tax for oil imports from 2004 to October 2009.

“We will put the amount to the trust fund, if they win, we will give their money. If not, the money will go to our revenue collection," he said.

Shell country chairman Edgar Chua discussed the matter with Morales and Finance Secretary Margarito Teves in a recent meeting in Malacañang.

Morales said he was told by Chua that the CCG and LCCG are both gasoline and he will call on the Board of Directors if they will approve the "payment under protest" scheme.

They are scheduled to meet again prior to the expiration of the 60-day TRO on February 9.