Coming Fuel Shortage?

[Monseratto]

Should gov't interfere with this or let it run it's course? Laki ng nakataya dito...

Gov't gets to seize Shell imports in P7.3-B tax row

Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. failed to get an injunction from the Court of Tax Appeals, which on Monday effectively allowed the Customs bureau to seize the oil firm's import shipments to pay for P7.34 in alleged back taxes.

"The damage in [Shell's] property rights must in the meantime take a back seat to the paramount need of the state for funds to sustain governmental functions," the tax appeals court said in a four-page resolution.

"Compared to the damage to the state, which may be caused by reduced financial resources, the damage to [Shell] is negligible," it added.

Pilipinas Shell lawyer John Balisnomo said they would exhaust legal remedies given the severe consequences of the ruling. The oil firm earlier warned of a looming fuel shortage, job losses and economic disruption in case the seizures proceed.

Shell had said that the seizure of future shipments could lead to the closure of its Batangas refinery, which employs 823 workers, and losses of P11 billion in sales a month.

With no products to sell, Shell’s 959 retail stations would eventually shut down. Shell’s dealers accounted for 34 percent of the market as of June last year. These stations employ nearly 17,000 daily wage earners who also stand to lose their jobs as a result of the seizures.

Apart from Shell’s 27.7-percent market share on average in the retail fuels market, it also supplies 33 percent of the fuel requirements of power plants, including the state-owned National Power Corp.’s facilities, 17.2 percent of the entire aviation fuel market, 24.6 percent of the marine transport market, and 70.2 percent of the demand for bitumen by contractors engaged in roadwork.

Edgar Chua, Shell country chair, said that the oil company had been advised by its head office that “if we don’t get suspension order and [if Customs] will be mandated to seize imports, we will be forced to stop imports.”

[wowiesy]

government din naman nanguna rito eh.. with BOC and BIR changing the ruling to apply RETROACTIVELY.. i think it is impossible for BOC / BIR to flex it's muscles like this without go signal from the top guys (like Teves, or even GMA herself)... what did they expect? na mag offer ng under the table deal na lang ang Shell to settle things?

[uls]

this is government-gone-wild

coz of its budget deficit, the govt is on a tax-collection rampage

kahit double taxation gagawin ng gobyerno

ganyan ka-desperado ang gobyerno

seizing private assets

very good

investors will be thinking twice before investing here na

[ghosthunter]

Greed knows no bounds.

Would anyone expect greed-made-legal by the government be any better?

[tidus1203]

Ganun lang yan... They take money from Shell thus discouraging investments. What they gain in Shell they lose much much more from VAT and income tax from additional business lost... But as I have said, government people are stupid! Its a job that makes anyone stupid even if he/she is the smartest person before they entered government!

Isa lang payo ko sa gobyerno! Cut the entitlement spending and raise the third finger on the church and promote family planning. This country has too many non-taxpaying (to say it badly useless) people compared to taxpaying (useful) people. Di patas ang ratio!

[uls]

expect more taxes

expect more govt harassment to squeeze more money out of the private sector

[tidus1203]

But if the private sector stops doing business what is there to squeeze??

[uls]

Ganun lang yan... They take money from Shell thus discouraging investments. What they gain in Shell they lose much much more from VAT and income tax from additional business lost... But as I have said, government people are stupid! Its a job that makes anyone stupid even if he/she is the smartest person before they entered government!

Isa lang payo ko sa gobyerno! Cut the entitlement spending and raise the third finger on the church and promote family planning. This country has too many non-taxpaying (to say it badly useless) people compared to taxpaying (useful) people. Di patas ang ratio!

Ya, one time gain lang ang double taxation ng gobyerno sa Shell

once this is over and the damage done, the govt will be collecting less taxes from Shell coz Shell will be winding down its operations in Philippines

they could shut down the refinery and just import finished products like Chevron

stupid govt people

short term mag isip

one time gain ang habol

the world is watching

the flow of capital into the country will slow down to a trickle if the govt keeps up its harassment of private companies

[badsekktor]

grabe talaga harrasment ngayon ng gobyerno! tsk! I believe we need to restructure the government and replace most government employees.... kung hindi gagawin yan patuloy ang exodus ng mga mamamayan at mga mamumuhunan....

[Lucius]

Fuel shortage? That's funny

[chrismarte]

Another form of harassment ng gobyernong puro pahirap ang binigay sa siyam na taong panunungkulan.

Kahit sino manalo sa dalawang panig isa lang naman ang talo, Tayong mga ordinaryong tao ang tatamaan.

[ghosthunter]

Fuel shortage? That's funny

It is a possibility if Shell suddenly stops it's distribution and sale of fuel (gasoline and diesel). They service a big portion and it is not something that can be offset by the other petroleum companies quickly.

[Monseratto]

In our area alone, there are 5 shell station vs 2 petron vs 1 caltex vs 1 sea oil.

[uls]

Another form of harassment ng gobyernong puro pahirap ang binigay sa siyam na taong panunungkulan.

Kahit sino manalo sa dalawang panig isa lang naman ang talo, Tayong mga ordinaryong tao ang tatamaan.

OT but kinda related to the quote

the reason why i'm not interested in the upcoming elections is that it wont make much of a difference who gets elected

the new president will inherit a huge budget deficit

if he has grand plans to lift the masses out of poverty he will have to borrow a lot of money to fund his programs...

which will further increase the budget deficit...

which will pressure the govt to collect more taxes by squeezing taxpayers...

which will make him unpopular

if the new president doesnt want to tax his citizens to death, he has to cut govt spending to bring down the deficit

but then, there won't be enough funds for him to fulfill his campaign promises

which will also make him unpopular

so it's damned if he does, damned if he doesnt

expectations are high for the next president

prepare to be disappointed

[br733]

based on the current set of candidates, does anyone really expect genuine change to happen?

[Monseratto]

Malacanang finally interferes...

Malacañang orders status quo in Shell tax row

MANILA, Philippines--Malacañang on Wednesday stepped into the tax dispute between the Bureau of Customs and Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., ordering a status quo and for the parties to wait for the Supreme Court to issue a decision on the case.

[ghosthunter]

PGMA has no choice but to declare a status quo only because PGMA can't afford another nationwide crisis on her hands because of political, financial or economic government mismanagement during the election period.

That status quo is only to last as long as the election period. So expect in June or after that for developments to occur on this issue.

[Wh1stl3r]

Why don't they tax and penalize the small and medium businesses that aren't even BIR-registered instead? There are a LOT of them out there. Harassing big companies like Shell will scare away more investors (becoming a trend). Instead of rewarding our top taxpayers, they harass them and let these unregistered SMEs get away with next to no tax contrubutions.

Maybe government vehicles should have a warning message printed on them similar to booze and packs of smokes.

It should read: "Greed moderately."

[oliver1013]

Budget deficit? Biglang pumasok sa isip ko yung infamous dinner in New York

[uls]

Why don't they tax and penalize the small and medium businesses that aren't even BIR-registered instead? There are a LOT of them out there. Harassing big companies like Shell will scare away more investors (becoming a trend). Instead of rewarding our top taxpayers, they harass them and let these unregistered SMEs get away with next to no tax contrubutions.

it's those populist politicians projecting the pro-poor/anti-rich image

(or an unpopular administration trying to earn back popularity)

what better way to gain popularity than by harassing a multinational oil company

the masses hate oil companies