Section 8December 28, 1992, Sec./Art. 8

Section 262 of the National Internal Revenue Code, as amended, is hereby further amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 262. Unlawful possession or removal of articles subject to excise tax without payment of the tax. - Any person who owns and/or is found in possession of imported articles subject to excise tax, the tax on which has not been paid in accordance with law, or any person who owns and/or is found in possession of imported tax-exempt articles other than those to whom they are legally issued shall be punished by:

"(1) A fine of not less than One thousand pesos but not more than Two thousand pesos and suffer imprisonment of not less than sixty days but not more than one hundred days if the appraised value, to be determined in the manner prescribed in the Tariff and Customs Code, including duties and taxes, of the articles does not exceed One thousand pesos;

"(2) A fine of not less than Ten thousand pesos but not more than Twenty thousand pesos and suffer imprisonment of not less than two years but not more than four years in the appraised value, to be determined in the manner prescribed in the Tariff and Customs Code, including duties and taxes, of the articles exceed One thousand pesos but does not exceed Fifty thousand pesos;

"(3) A fine of not less than Thirty thousand pesos but not more than Sixty thousand pesos and suffer imprisonment of not less than four years but not more than six years if the appraised value, to be determined in the manner prescribed in the Tariff and Customs Code, including the duties and taxes, of the articles is more than Fifty thousand pesos but does not exceed One hundred fifty thousand pesos; or

"(4) A fine of not less than Fifty thousand pesos but not more than One hundred thousand pesos and suffer imprisonment of not less than ten years but not more than twelve years if the appraised value, to be determined in the manner prescribed in the Tariff and Customs Code, including duties and taxes, of the articles exceed One hundred fifty thousand pesos.

"Any person who is found in possession of locally manufactured article subject to excise tax, the tax on which has not been paid in accordance with law, or any person who is found in possession of such articles which are exempt from excise tax other than those to whom the same is lawfully issued shall be punished with a fine of not less than ten times the amount of excise tax due on the articles found but less than Five hundred pesos and suffer imprisonment of not less than two years but not more than four years.

"Any manufacturer, owner, or person in charge of any article subject to excise tax who removes or allows or causes the unlawful removal of any such articles from the place of production or bonded warehouse, upon which the articles subject to excise tax has not been paid at the time in manner required, and any person who knowingly aids or abets in the removal of such articles as aforesaid, or conceals the same after illegal removal shall, for the first offense, be punished with a fine of not less than ten times the amount of excise tax due on the articles but not less than one year. but not more than two years.

"The mere unexplained possession of articles subject to excise tax, the tax on which has not been paid in accordance with law, shall be punished under this section."