Philippines
National
CTA denies bid of Cap John Hay Trade and Cultural Center to cancel P24.9M deficiency taxes for 2006 to 2011
CTA denies bid of Cap John Hay Trade and Cultural Center to cancel P24.9M deficiency taxes for 2006 to 2011
The Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) has for denied lack of jurisdiction the petition of Cap John Hay Trade and Cultural Center, Inc. (CJHTCCI) – operator of an event venue with offices at Camp John Hay in Baguio City -- seeking to cancel the P24.9 million deficiency taxes assessed by the Bureau of International Revenue (BIR) from 2006 to 2011.
In an assessment notice on May 19, 2016, the BIR informed CJHTCCI’s liability for deficiency income tax, value-added tax (VAT), expanded withholding tax (EWT), and documentary stamp tax (DST) from Jan. 1, 2006 to Dec. 31, 2011 in the total amount of P22,993,951.90.
A Formal Letter of Demand (FLD) dated March 3, 2016 was issued later, assessing the event venue operator of its taxes plus interests and surcharges in the aggregate amount of P24,931,675.86.
The firm filed a petition for review before the CTA on Dec. 18, 2018. It told the tax court that the six-year tax assessments are null and void because they were wrongly served to the unauthorized person.
For its part, the BIR said that the CTA has no jurisdiction over the case because the assessment had already become final and executory.
In a decision issued last Feb. 5, the tax court’s special third division sided with the BIR as it ruled that the CJHTCCI failed to timely protest the BIR's assessments.
The CTA said:
“Verily, for failure of petitioner to timely protest the FLD received on May 19, 2016 in accordance with the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997 and Revenue Regulation No. 12-99, as amended by RR No. 18-2013, the same cannot be considered as a disputed assessment.
“Since there is no disputed assessment, nothing can be acted or decided upon by respondent (BIR commissioner) or his duly authorized representative. There being no disputed assessment and no decision by respondent to speak of in this case, nothing can be brought before the Court's review.”
Associate Justice Ma. Belen M. Ringpis-Liban wrote the 13-page decision with the concurrence of Associate Justices Maria Rowena Modesto-San Pedro and Corazon G. Ferrer-Flores.