By Jun Ramirez The Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) has ordered the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to return to San Miguel Brewery (SMB) more than P761 million in “erroneously and excessively excise tax collection.” (MANILA BULLETIN) The CTA en banc affirmed the decision of its Second Division that the tax was illegally collected from the subsidiary of San Miguel Corporation (SMC). The tax over payment arose in 2012 when the BIR classified San Mig Light (SML) as a variant of Pale Pilsen and other San Miguel beer products. In a 14-page resolution, the full court agreed with the argument of SMB that SML is a new product subject to the lower excise tax rate of P15.49 per liter. As a variant of Pale Pilsen, the BIR slapped SML with P20.59 per liter tax. SMB pointed out that under Section 143 of the Tax Code SML has been classified as a new product and different from other SMB beer products. The CTA also cited the ruling of the Supreme Court on similar case that SML and Pale Pilsen did not share the same root word for the former to be classified as a variant. It added that SML has distinct features such as flavor and low calorie content.