CTA Case No. 286 (Decision)

'UI L LIC OF TIW ,_... PIN~ COUlU' 01� I \ l .PJ.:.ALS MANILA P t t oner. c.t.A. c � 286 � ver us - spondent. --- X� � --- - - - - Th s s an appeal fro a decfa on of respon ent �o lector of Internal avenue a es ng agafnat and de and ng fr petft�oner T u on n t au s of penalty, for t e per od fro too r 1, 19~3 to ec � r 31 , 1954, nclus ve, an 5.00 as alle ed de� f cfency percentage tax, surchar an co pro � P n� alty or th f rat quarter of 1 _55. In h au pole� ental ettt on for rev~ew , pet t oner seeks r fund of 125. hfch was all� edly unlawfully collected as percentage tax for the first quarter of 195~. n 19551 nvesttgat on c nduct!d by ~nternal revenue exa ner uneart e rr ul r t ea in the pay� nt of taxes tn � � � of lh e nvest at ons nvolved the case of petft o er. etftfoner '� t e sole propr etor of t a pa� �n guita oap an andle f ctory, �tuated th C ty of Ce u. It appears that the a unts writt n �n figured fn the dupl�cat � tr pl cate an ua upl cat 50

- cD.rC.A!S.I <., 'E � 286 - 2- copies of 't e ofi-lc tal r e'ipt as ot rnal r v nue taxe.., were ctually pa"d �nd turn to th provi - cfal treasury of Cebu. Ho ever, th a ~n the ori tnal r c tpts th n ssu t an ; tie hands f pe r re g~ t r han tho �n ; . cated !n t u ltc te, tr"p1"cate and dru 1 ca e cop� s ff"c al receip of t xe~ paf y pett- ttou r ta ula d s ollo ~ 3568 � 20-54 �6 . 66 15.00 693564 1-20-54 75.00 " 6 v 4-20-54 144. 4 � \.I 218.69 704222 7�2 -54 214.0 18.69 17811!96 1� 7 18 1 - 2 -54 117. u 78.96 206801 1-31-55 218114 4- 20-55 7. rt. d"fferences t e the a ou t appe~ �� tu orig nal off "c"al rece pts and to r i c at d n t dupl cate, tr p1 cat and quadrupltc te canst - tute the asfs for the def ~i - cy as ess nL ~{ per- c tag tax e andod of pet t to r "th c r- r &pondin su~c ~ e nd co pro se p _na y. xa. �nat on _of the rece pta -rnvolv here sho 5t11at the han wr ,tt _n <~ords and ftgures , not found in the dupl�cate, tr~pl~cate and adrup!�c ate c p�es of the o!ftc a1 re~etpts re ad e to th or �n 1 cop es . These 1dd~ttons could not have been tten by the p~rson who wrote the s gnatures � � Pareja and the inftfals 2. These s~gnatures and ~n�t als , . 51

EC I � C. T.A. CASE O. 286 - 3 -� wh1eh appear ~n all eop �� of the receipts ~r� a ttedly wrftt!n thereon by artol ~~ Baguio, who , aa cht!f of the internal revenue _d,vtaton and de� puty_e ty treasurer of Cebu ��� in charge of col� lect ng t!x�� thereat. ~ur~ng the perf for which t e deffefency _ t~x�� fn quest .on are � ght to be collected, pet � tioner generally caused h�s taxes to ba pa �t the T~eaaurer�s Off ee qf C bu Cttv thru on _ tan Chuan L ong wbe �� a buatneaa agent of pettt oner. lt &PP.eara also t at Tan Qhuan L!ong bad any other cl enta for he pa d taxes an4 by v rtue thereof, and such pa~nta were aade , ba _waa pe tted by Bartol~ _Baguto to aeeo _pl s~ n the latter's booth the offtc�al rece pte ev~denc ng the P.aymants of taxes due froa the former'� clients, � l~df~g petittoner. The ~ntervent on of aguto in the f 11 ng up of he rece pta ��� 1 m t e to h s ~�~~~g tbereo t � a gna� �n turea �F. � Pareja� and hfa t�al$ � 2~. Aa afore� or stated~ the IQOU~t� appear~ng n _the ~~nal cop��� of off1c al recetpta as taxes P-lid are d f erent fro� ana greater t an tho!� &tated fn the upl(eate , trt- pllcate and ~adl'upl cate eop ��� Hence, respondent assessed pettttonar for the ~nderpaymenta o~ the theory tha~ the latter wa lfable for _th~ d1acre~ P!DCY� this_is tha subject of tbe pr nc pal pat � t on for rev ew. j! 52 tl

�Ctsl � o. 286 C. t . A. CASE � 4- The supple ntel _P!t1t~on for revfa covers the ount pa d by pet t ~n!r on May 10, 1956 n t he su ot: s 125. 00 as def c �eney tax and surcharge f or the firat quarter of 1955. Thereafter , he r � quested respondent for the r efund of this ount on t he grou that same was unlawfully collected. Th s request for refund was den d. The saues ra sed by the part~es boJl do n to the fo llowings 1. hether or not ~pet1ttoner ts !fable f or the respecttve a ounts of 1, 125.00 and 145. 00 aa alleged d f�c�ency taxes , sur� charge or eo pr ��� penaltyJ and 2. ether or not the su of 125. allege ly unla fully collecte rom pet~ t~oner a t x and surcharge for the ftrst q~&rt!r of 195~ may e _refund d . _ elatfve o the first issue, ft 1s the conten- tion ~f petit o~er that he has fully paid t he t xes due htm for the year 19~4 and 1955, and , ~onse ently, the a se&$ ��ent and demen hereof app aled t unlawf'!l� Petitioner r 1�es pr.Jnc�pally upon t ortgfnal cope of the off c :tal r ce~.pt;,;J ev deneing the alleged true an correct amounts of taxe pafd y h � Upon the other _hand, r spondent d nt s that paym nt h s b en mad ~n full. H a�nta �ns that the short payments !r� t~aceable to th _ ac ts of Tan Chuan L~ong , thereby t plytno that pot t ! oner should b r \h bur en o cover~ng up shor~ payments or tax def cf nc s. A tax r ce�Qt ts presu ~tfve evJdence of pay- nt of taxes nd �c ated therein ( s e Cooley, On Taxa� 53 .Jo

� 286 t tt ts not con� clua�v� ev dence of such payment, . a~ the adve.rse party ay prove by any eo tent evidence that pay� ment has not aetu~lly en ""� ( see ~l A � Jur. sec . 96Q, p. 842} . This nconclus v~ nature of t!x _re� ce pt must equally be conceded in ~ases of d~!'cf ncy par-ent . And as a ~oro~lary to th c ncess on, _tho adverse party ay lfkew � prove y co petent ev dence that payment as not full and complete. !n the caee at bar, respondent '!�k to p~o~e by t~e or 1gfnal copies of t~ tax rece pta (off cf l rece pta) and th correspon ~g abstra~t of coll c- tt~ns in r lat!on to the dupl catep2p es of the re� ce pta that t � taxes due fro petit oner have not been fully and co pletely pa d. � shall no deter � mtne whether or n~t th re � a ~uch full an co plete pa~ent . Upon ~h s 4eter nat on depends the reso - lut on of the _f�rst ssue. An ex nat on of the or gfnal cop es of the offic al - recetpts (E- xhtb-its "A� t �e� ~� ~� �E� , � - � �F�) , n c;.onj.unct ton wtth th.. "~.. correap~nd�ng du� pl cate , tr�plfca~e and qua~uplt.c;.a~e co ads us to the eonclua on that sa�~ ~r�g�nal copies have been au tly d fted and fals�fted. It s abundantly evt qent that the f~gures �20� , respect�vely arked as xh b ts �5- � and �~..o� in ~xf! t �A� _and t~� _words as �two hun~ed�; ked Exh btt �~ � n_Bxb bft _�A�J the ft;ures �1� , arked as Exh{ ti �7~ ~ in Exhfb t � �1 and the ' word ~seventy� , arked ' Ex tb t _�!- � Exhtb t �B�J the f!gures �1� , arke as Exhtb t �10- �

o. 286 - 6- .. � nd th! ~ r � on hundr arkecl as as Exh t 13 � �n Exhiblt~ uo� an4 t � _oids �two .. bundr! d", marked as Exh-fb t n E. h "b t "D"_; _ - the gures 2� , ark d as b �1~ - -in;>b t "' �E� and_the ~ .... �two hunareci� , arlee �~r -� 1~ ~ n xhi.b't �o�t ~he f g~ r�� "2~ , ... the- .. _, th ar � as x 8 1~-~� n x s xh iJ t 17� �n Ex b t "F" Wor and th~ & "one hura e " , ark as Exh "t "17� 0" n xh(bft �r-�1 and ~h~ f�~ur s ~1� and th o s ~�not itt n fn th &u.... a"' quont cop ~G ofthe off - c:~al rece pt � n fr u lently add d. h l w !_re at !o s s to ho _ ut or th se ft' udulent add tons~ owe er, a testff .ed to _ y and t ng ex� pert , Fel pe P. Logan , these a t ons coul not _have ~n wr tten y rtolo - ~~o- bo ote th n� tures �f . � Par�J!� _ the n t als � 2 _ pe~in at the foot of �xh~b t& �A� to "F�. !her s no ev-'- ience on hand eatisfactory~ ~o establ sh or n~ c~te that artoloa. guo auppl�e ~_t _ese ddt ons. ar- agu h����lf has test�fted that t an- wr t~ng on the rece!pts were not � t er, Tan Chuan L on � et ttoner h not pres nted h�s agent Tan Chu n Lfon to re ut the test on _of D - puty Treasurer ~gu�o. The faot th t th wr�tt ga 55

j DEC.ISIOO � C. T. A. CASE NO. 286 - 7- on th dupltcate ~ecetpts a~d _those o~ the ~rfg,nal rece�pts, �nclud�ng the add't ' ons or fn~erttons on the latter are ade _by the same pers~n ~~ co~robo� rated by the handwr.ft ~g _exp rt. Th�s fact �s fu~� ther not denfed by pet-rt-r~n~r . However, the latter merely arques that t he wr ttnqs could not have b~en ade by hf nor h�s agent Tan Chuan Tfon � Cons -fder- �ng _that the te~t mony of Treasurer Bagu~o �a cate� gor ~ Cal or part'cular on th"s potnt , hereas ~�t"~ ~�oner � s argum nt �s m rely specul ttve _and , cons~der� tng that pet�t�oner ' s ayent Tan Chuan ~�ong has not �!n presented, we bel teve that the w �oht of the ev�dence �s strongly 1 n favor of respond!nt ~n rela� t,Yon thereto. � are further susta�ned _�n thts res� pect Q.y the handwr t"ng expert who test.ff�ed that the ~dd-ftfoas 11 the or 1 ginal copte& _of the r ee-rpts then n the hands of petit~oner er~ �nserte~ subse ent to the Pteparat~on of the dupl eate, tr�plteate and qua upl~c!te coptea th reof. e f nd therefore that th ortg�nal rece~pts do not ~t ate correctly th~ ~ount& p �d as taxes and the falatty of tl.e sa!d or.fgfnal has or ed to de troy the preaumpt�on of _a _full and co plete p ent of th taxes due fr9. ~ ft~ ~er . � re thus c o~vfnced that the a ounts nd�cated in the upl.feate , trtpl !_eate and the quadruplicat copies of tha of{ eial receipts and entered n the a �tract ot collect�ons trul represent the payments ct lly ade . All th entr~es were ade .. 56 11

- C..,...T,~ . A."'""C"'ASE NO. 286 � 8- 1n tho ord nary course of publtc bus n��� ancl are ent tl!d _to we ht and credence. Hance, w !r! of the op n�on and &o h~ld t. t_t ere W!S a ef c~ ncy tn ~h~ pay. !Dt ~f the tax!S n estion for wntch pettt oner s t�abl . en le th r r , t necessar ly follows th t the pos�t on oft � 2o surcharge for late pa~ent t hereof �s proper d lawful. As regards the c mpro ise penalties a ounttng to 70.00, wh�ch ~espondent a!s�s ed ag tnst and - aan ed fro p$t ttoner but hfch t h latt er _ha! n~t acc epted hold th t �h s ~ourt has no jur sd c on to co pel pa ent ther of (s e r as v. ollec o of Internal evenu , C. T�� No. 16, Septe or 141 19~~~ Central Azuc rer d Tarl c ~ . Coll ctor of internal Rev nue, C.T.A. to . 90, July 9, 19561 - nlto Co ercf.al tne. v. Col lector of Intern 1 evenue, c. r.A. o. 218, Oetob r ~ . 1956s ohol Land Tr ns- portat on v. Coll ctor of tnt n 1 avenue, C. T�� o. 216, epte er 2 , 19~7). Hav�n ruled that pet toner �� 1 able or _t h pa _nt of the eficfeney taxes no _n que!ti n n- clu 'ny �urc ar � � t !ollo a hat hfs c!�!m for th refund of_t of 1~. 00 p d �� - f� e ency t~x for t � f� st quarter of 195 h ch s of th s character ana_.nature �� the tax f �rat bove eonteste , should en e � 57

DECl'SIQI - C. T. A. CASE NO. 286 F ~ �~�~t for th' _od f cat on as re� gard! tht non� l ab 1 ty of pet�t�oner fo~ the co - romtse pena11y, reapon4 _n~ � s asae~s nt and demand ts hereby aff ud. Pet t oner , t�u on _S�n, "� _ h�reby orde{td to pay to ~spendent or htt _author zed reprea ntatfve the su of �1 ,01~. 00 ! def�e�eney _ per~eqta � tax plua 25 surcharge. ith costa � a nat pet tioner. antla, february 28, 19!> � 58