CTA junks Mactan Electric's protest vs P2.8M taxes levied by Cordova town in Cebu
The Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) has dismissed the petition filed by Mactan Electric Company, Inc. (MECO) which challenged the P2.8 million real property taxes assessed by the municipality of Cordova in Cebu for taxable years 1992 to 2011.
In 2012, MECO filed with the Cebu City regional trial court (RTC) a complaint against the assessment. The trial court dismissed the complaint for lack of merit. It then filed a petition for review before the CTA on Dec. 21, 2021.
It claimed that the RTC "seriously erred" in finding it liable to pay taxes from 1992 to 2011 despite the 10-year limit provided by Section 222 of the Local Government Code (LGC).
The law states that "real property declared for the first time shall be assessed for taxes for the period during which it would have been liable but in no case for more than 10 years prior to the date of initial assessment."
MECO claimed that if it was liable to pay taxes, the earliest should have only been assessed for back taxes "beginning 1997 or 1998."
In dismissing the petition, the CTA pointed out that Section 252 of the LGC provides that "no protest shall be entertained unless the taxpayer first pays the tax."
"Despite receipt of the Notice of Assessment in 2008 and the letter dated Oct. 13, 2011, petitioner did not pay 'under protest' the assessed real property taxes and filed a protest under Section 252 of the LGC," the tax court said.
"Petitioner's failure to first pay the tax and exhaust the administrative remedies available to it rendered the subject tax assessment final and executory," it ruled.
The 24-page decision was written by Associate Justice Lanee S. Cui-David with the concurrence of Associate Justice Jean Marie A. Bacorro-Villena.