Chevron tax duties unclear

Chevron tax duties unclear

The Finance Ministry has set up a committee to probe the Customs Department's recent refund of excise duties worth 3 billion baht to Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production.

Mr Apisak: Ministry has formed a panel

The ministry formed the panel, parallel to a request from the Council of State to find whether Chevron's purchases of oil from Star Petroleum Refining and transport to its oil rigs, located on a continental shelf that is farther than 12 nautical miles from the coast, can be counted as exports, said Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong.

At the moment, several state agencies have different opinions on the issue because of conflicts in law, so the ministry has sought the Council of State's opinion.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea defines the territorial boundary as 12 nautical miles beyond the baseline, while the Supreme Court earlier ruled that the territory extends to the continental shelf.

Veerasak Pungrasamee, director-general of the Department of Mineral Fuels, said the department provided its interpretation a week ago, under which Chevron would continue paying taxes on fuel that was used on the petroleum rig.

Under Section 70 of the Petroleum Act 1971, the fuel that was used on the rig could no longer be waived although the area in which the rig stands was 12 nautical miles from onshore.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said he was aware of the issue.

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