Previous Story
Sasamoto bill offers 6-month pause on liquid fuel tax
|
Posted on Jul 12 2022
New 18th Youth Congress Speaker Sen. YuriHana Deleon Guerrero Sasamoto introduced Friday a bill that seeks to exempt fuel distributors, importers, or retailers from paying the liquid fuel tax for a period of six months.
Sasamoto introduced Youth Congress Bill 18-09 when she was still the floor leader during their special session Friday in the House of Representatives chamber.
Then-Youth Congress speaker Sen. Cielo Citalli Gutierrez Long referred the bill to the Committee on Resources Economic Development and Tourism.
The legislation—which is recommendatory in nature—seeks to amend the Commonwealth Code by providing a new subsection to reflect the six-month exemption. Bills passed by the Youth Congress have no force of law unless the CNMI Legislature passes it and the governor enacts it.
Sasamoto stated in the bill that residents of the CNMI feel constant strain due to increased costs for essential goods, especially at the gas pump where prices have significantly increased this past year. Sasamoto said that wholesalers and retailers are forced to pass on their cost of fuel to the consumer, which includes a fuel tax. She said higher gas prices are not only felt at the pump but in stores as well, where the cost of goods is increasing because of increased shipping and transportation costs.
Sasamoto said it is difficult for wholesalers and retailers to satisfy all the tax expenses on the quarterly tax returns and payments, which include the business gross income tax.
In order to significantly decrease the price of gas at the pump, she said it is more prudent to require that the payment of the liquid fuel taxes be temporarily paused for six months.
Later at Friday’s session, Sasamoto was elected the new Youth Congress speaker, replacing Long, who left over the weekend for Harvard University.
Long is expected to submit anytime her resignation letter as a member of the Youth Congress.
