CTA Case No. 2953 (Decision)

~ ~= ' ... ':> ..- r RKPUBLJC OF 1ZU PaiLJP PrN~ ico~JRT OF TAX APPEALS M..c:r.oN crrv COMMONWEALTH PACIFlC C.T.A. CASE NO. 2953 CONSULTANTS, LTD., Petitioner/ - versus - THE COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVEN UE, Re spondent. X- - - - - - - - - - - X DEC I S I 0 N This case comes on petitioner's motion for a summary judgment sustain i ng its claim for a refund o f alleged overpayment of corporate income tax in the amount of ~8,400.00 on the ground that there i s no longer any genuine issue to be resolved . Inter alia, petitioner corporation organized and existing under the laws of the Philippines con- tends, that it 1) .Paid on May 26, 1976 income tax in the amount of ~28,110.00 on a net income of ~87,457.44 for the quarter ending March, 1976., shown per copies of return, receipt of payment and tax payment acceptance order (Annexes "A" , "B" & "C") i. 2) .filed in March, 1977 a final corporate annual income tax return showing a tax liability

DECISION - CTA CASE NO. 29 53 - 2- for the calendar year 1976 of only Pl9,709.00 or an overpayme nt of P8,400.00 (Annex "D") ;_ 3) _claimed the refund thereof from respondent in a le�tter da t ed May 10, 1 978 (Annex "E") i. but for lack of official action and to hedge against the running of the. statutory limitations 4) .filed on May 2J, 1978 the present petition. Respondent while not disputing the relatively simple material facts as alleged raises in the usual token of a defense that l) _taxes are pre- sumed to have been paid and collected in accord- ance with law, 2) _the burden of proof rests upon petitioner t o show entitlemen t to the refund sought, and 3) compliance with the requisites prescribed under Sec tions 306 and 309, both of the Tax Code (before the 1977 recodification) relative to the recovery of erroneously or illegaly collected taxes. The records, moreover, show that l) _petitioner has complied with the above-mentioned statutory requirements by having filed a written claim for refund with the respondent and a suit on appeal to this Court within the two-year period from the date of payment of the tax; 2) _respondent has not issued any deficiency assessment nor disputed the correctness of petitioner's income tax return, to 275

DECIS ION - CTA CASE NO. 2953 - 3- date; and 3) the parties, however , seem to have recognized the legal mer i t of the claim which 11 has been favorably recommended for approval in the Bureau of Internal Revenue and that the same is being presently administratively proce s sed or settled. 11 (CTA Resolution, March 26 , 1982) ~ Appare ntly the determi nat i on of the p r ecise ques- tion of whether or no t petitioner's tax return is i n order remains dawdled in a traumatic procedural t ransition . But as should be expected, the action could be maintained on the basis of the pleadings, admis- sion and . affidavit of the parties which neither provokes any unsettling questions nor involves ma terial factual i s sue genuinely in dispute. The administrative machinery or process employed on the right to the claim seems to have moved barely at idling speed . To be relatively quiescent for some four (4} years on a c la im of such a simple nature and not so considerable a stake which no longer incites controversy nor excites a queasy sense of expectation, creates but an unwarranted bureacratic inertia of inaction. Readily, a legal conclusion can safely be reached. Petitioner or any similarly c i rcumstanced taxpayer for that ma t ter .. . 27 6

DECISI O~ - CTA CASE NO. 2953 - 4- deserves a measure of fair dealing in a more expe- dient and competently responsive action. Under the c i rcumstances, we are persuaded to extend the relief sought by summary judgment. Peti- tioner is entitled to the refund of the amount of P8,400.00 repr esenting an overpayment of corporate incom~ tax for the calendar ye~r 1976, as a matter of law. WHEREFORE, respondent is hereby ordered to grant the refund to petitioner without pronounce- ment as to costs . SO ORDE RE D. Quezon City, Metro Manila, May 15, 1982. ~~ ~i~~e Judge WE CONCUR: