Officials in China’s Liaoning province plan to prosecute three independent oil refiners found to have evaded fuel taxes, authorities said on Wednesday. The move is part of a broader clampdown on irregular tax practices in the private refining sector.
The companies – Panjin Beifang Asphalt Fuel, Liaoning Bora Biological Energy and Panjin Haoye Chemical – failed to pay fuel consumption taxes on refined oil products they sold, Liaoning’s tax service said.
The first two firms are controlled by private oil and chemical firm Bora Group based in the city of Panjin, which is about 490km (304 miles) northeast of Beijing.
“Companies evaded fuel tax… by presenting taxable refined oil products as chemical products that are not subject to the consumption levy,” the tax service said.
In October, it was reported that Unipec, the trading arm of Asia’s largest refiner Sinopec, had stepped in to supply crude oil to Liaoning Bora and Panjin Haoye Chemical.
A senior official with Bora Group declined to comment when contacted by Reuters and deferred media queries to the Panjin city government. Calls to Haoye Chemical were unanswered.
- Reuters with additional editing by Sean OMeara
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