THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said seized tobacco and vapor products this year would have generated P7.2 billion in revenue had they entered the market through regular channels.
“What we have caught so far for this year is quite a lot. For cigarettes, we’ve confiscated more than 500,000 packets. For vape products, we have confiscated 170,000 units. For all of these, the estimated tax liability is at P7.2 billion,” BIR Commissioner Romeo D. Lumagui, Jr. said in a television interview.
The BIR urged vape manufacturers to mark their products with revenue stamps to signify tax compliance.
The BIR said that all vape products sold in the country were required to bear the revenue stamps starting June 1.
“There were no stamps for vape products before. That’s why we couldn’t tell if the excise tax for these products were paid. Now, we can easily find this out,” Mr. Lumagui said.
“If you go to a store and see that your vape products don’t have stamps, it means that the excise tax for these products was not paid.”
The BIR is seeking to collect P152.404 billion in excise tax from tobacco products this year.
In March, the BIR seized illicit vape products from a warehouse in Laguna on which an estimated P75.7 million in tax was not paid. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson
