CTA Case No. 836 (Decision)

C OP THE P ~URr OF TAX "'....,........"'"� � � HQ)GE :g C.T.A. CASE NO. 836 Petition r, .. versus - OARD OF ASSESSMENT APPEALS OF ILOILO~ Res pondent. DE CISION This is an appeal from r e spondent 1 s decision affirming the assessment made by the City Assessor of Iloilo of petitionert s lot in Iloilo City in the amount of 164,320o00e The parties stipulated as follows lo That it is hereby admitted that petitioner Co N. Hodges is the owner of a property described as Lot No. 10303-BB- lo-(Part) in paragraph 2 of the petition for review; 2~ That it is her by stipulated and agreed by the parties that in the year 1958 the property mentioned in paragraph 1 hereof was assessed under ax Declara~ tion Noo 28846 in the amount of � 71 560o00; 3. That subsequently, Lot t-l o. 906 assessed under Tax Declaration Noo 9401 with an area of 10R287 square meters was added to and consolidated with Lot No. 1303~BB-1Q-(Part), described above~ there- by making a total area of 179~880 square meters for which a new tax declaration can- celling the previous one was issued; o That on May 19~ 1958 at the ins� tance of and upon submission by petitioner Co o Hodges of the con~olidation and sub- division planv the Director of Lands ap- proved the said consolidation and subdivi- sion plan of Lot Noo 906 and Lot Noo 1303� 10-{part). covering the entire area sub-

f, DB:;ISIOO ... C.I.A. CASE NO. 836 - 2 ... ject of the instant petition,, copy of said consolidation and subdivision plan is hereto attached and marked as Annex 11AtJ and made an integral part of this stipulation; 5o That by virtue of and after the subdivision and consolidation of the areas mentioned in the preceding para- graphs, the City Assessor assessed the said lot 1 as consolidated and subdividedf under Tax Declaration Noo 23008 on Dec- ember 21~ 1959 in the amount of � 164~320o00 or at the rate of ~1.00 per square meter; 6. That as a result of the subdivi- sion of the area subject of this petitionL petitioner sold to various persons since the year 1959 when the subdivision took effect, several lots included in the subdivision at the rate ranging from 2.00 to ~5.00 per square meter; 7. That a portion of the subdivision is presently devoted to the planting of rice and corn. The only issue raised for our consideration is whether or not the instant valuation for tax purposes is excessive and confiscatoryo Petitiqner contends the affirmative on the assertion that 75% of the land in question is agri- cultural land and only 25% thereof is residential in charactero He advocates its appraisal at ~47.597.73~ instead of at ~164 % 320.00. It is to be observed thata as stipulated by the partiesR the subdivision of the land into lots for sale to the public has been approved by the Director of Lands. In pursuance of an unnumbered Provincial Circular 2 dated July 16~ 1947� of the Department of Finance. subdivision lots in chartered cities should

DECISIQ\J - CoT.A. CASE Oo 836 - 3- be assessed at their true and full value as urban lands. For~ the purpose of platting land is to add to its value~ its salability, its market value {see Hillman's Smohomish County Land & Ro Coo vso Snoho- mish County, 87 asho 58, 151 Pace 96). Therefore, the fact that a portion of the subdivision is pre- sently ~evoted to the planting of rice and corn does not foreclose its assessment for tax purposes as an urban lando As stipulated, since the subdivision took effect in 1959, several lots have been sold by petitioner at the rate ranging from -2.00 to �� 5o00 per square metero In this circumstance, the aforecited unnumbered Provin- cial Circular enjoins that "70 per cent of the price at which such lots are sold may be considered as th true value thereof x x x"o And it appearing that the valua- tion in question is only at ~l oOO per square meter or only 50% of the lowest price at which lots were sold, we find that the same is fair and justifiedo HEREFORE, the instant appeal is hereby dismissed, with costs against petitionero SO ORDEREDo Manila, August 18� 1961. ---MAR--O�N~ABL~E Presiding Judge ReMAN M. UMALI Associate Judge