The Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) has cleared a businesswoman in Quezon City of P72-million tax evasion case filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) for insufficient evidence.
The court's Third Division stated that the prosecutor failed to show evidence that Solania G. Ong of Scout Lazcano St., Quezon City, was the treasurer of Grand East Empire Corporation that "willfully" did not pay the multi-million-peso income, value-added and expanded withholding taxes in 2006.
Likewise, the resolution sided with the respondent's argument that she did not receive any preliminary and final assessment notices concerning the tax liabilities.
The court said the notices presented by the BIR lawyers have no markings that they were received by the company as required under the Tax Code.
The decision said that in all criminal prosecution, the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
It added that the constitutional rights of the accused to due process must be upheld always.
The 19-page decision was written by Associate Justice Erlinda P. Uy and concurred by Associate Justices Ma. Belen M. Ringpis-Liban and Ma. Rowena Modesto-San Pedro.