Philippine government benefitted from high oil prices

Spiraling oil prices last year pushed Philippine government collections from the Reformed Value Added Tax (RVAT) last year. Revenues from the amendments to the value-added tax law which raised the VAT from 10 to 12% totaled Php121.14 billion (US$2.54 billion) from January to December, higher than the program of Php119.59 billion (US$2.50 billion) and the Php88.93 billion (US$1.86 billion) collected in 2007. The Bureau of Customs, the agency that collects duties from oil imports, earned the bulk of the revenues, collecting Php73.85 billion (US$1.55 billion). Among the commodities stripped of VAT exemptions, the government earned most from raw materials of petroleum products (Php32.27 billion or US$675.73 million), followed by petroleum products (PhpP25.74 billion or US$538.99 million), the electric power industry (Php15.51 billion or S$324.78 million) and natural gas and indigenous fuels (Php3.62 billion or US$68.26 million). (May 6, 2009)