QuestionsQuestions (EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 491)
EO No. 491 exempts certain motor vehicles—previously imported tax- and duty-free under diplomatic/international agreements, RA 7157, and similar privileges—from the imposition of the additional specific duty of Php 500,000.00 under EO No. 418 upon their subsequent sale or transfer to non-tax-exempt individuals in the local market.
EO No. 418 imposed an additional specific duty of Php 500,000.00 on the specific articles listed in its Annex A, as classified under Section 104 of the Tariff and Customs Code of 1978.
It cites the policy to balance development and environmental protection, and the need to mitigate the impact of used motor vehicle trading on air quality and road safety.
Motor vehicles of embassy officials, members of the diplomatic corps and international organizations, Filipino diplomats, recalled DFA personnel or officers/employees returning to DFA for reassignment, government offices that were given privilege to import vehicles tax- and duty-free under relevant laws and international agreements (including foreign loans and donations), and other similarly situated individuals.
The exemption applies “upon the subsequent sale or transfer” of the covered vehicles to “non-tax exempt individuals” in the local market.
It states that some vehicles were brand new when withdrawn from customs warehouses and first operated on Philippine roads; therefore, their subsequent transfer would not increase the environmental risk that EO No. 418 aims to curb.
It argues that imposing the additional duty effectively prevents the disposition of the vehicles by sale or donation, which would negate the value of the original tax-and-duty-free import privilege.
It cites Section 401 of the Tariff and Customs Code of 1978, as amended, which empowers the President to increase, reduce, or remove existing rates of import duty and modify the form of duty and tariff nomenclature under Section 104 of the Code.
EO No. 491 relates to and exempts vehicles from the additional specific duty imposed under Executive Order No. 418 (s. 2005).
Republic Act No. 7157.
The Vienna Convention, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Headquarters Agreement, and other relevant international agreements.
It provides that all other Presidential issuances, administrative rules and regulations, or parts thereof inconsistent with EO No. 491 are hereby revoked or modified accordingly.
It takes effect thirty (30) days following its complete publication in two (2) newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines.
Only those within the specified classes—covered by diplomatic/international agreements, RA 7157, government offices with granted privileges under relevant laws and agreements, and other similarly situated individuals—are covered.
It exempts the vehicle from the imposition of the additional specific duty of Php 500,000.00 under EO No. 418 upon the sale or transfer to non-tax exempt individuals.
Because EO No. 418’s additional specific duty applies to articles listed in Annex A “as classified under Section 104” of the Tariff and Customs Code; EO No. 491 creates an exemption to that imposed duty for certain covered vehicles.