CTA Case No. 3727 (Decision)

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES COURT OF TAX APPEALS QUEZON CITY GEOPHYSICAL SERVICES INC., CTA CASE NO. 3727 F'eti ticmer-� , - ver- s u s -� THE COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, F~e s ponden t . X- - - - - - - - - - - - - X D E C::: I s I DN Thi s case involves a c laim for refund of the s um of F'24l�. , 256. 52 r-epr-esenting alleged over-paid income t.a:�: f u r the ta:�:able year- 1981.. The facts upon which petitioner- r-elies in claiming a r- e fund ar-e as follow s : Petitioner is a foreign cor-pora tion engage d in petroleum ope r-ation s under- Pr-esidential Decr-ee No. 1354 in the Philippines . Fot-- the t.a:�:able year- ended December- 31, 1981 petitioner- f .i.l ed its corpor-a t.e income ta:< r-eturn (Exh. B) with the respondent's bur-eau on Apr-il 15, 1.982 (Exh. B- 1) declaring therein a gr-oss income of P4,647,725.00 (Exh. B- 2 ) as its 1.981 ear-nings � .

DECISION --� CTA CASE NO . 3727 - 2- The in co me tax due there on was P371,818.00 (Exh. B-3 ). After cr�edi ting the total amount of P85,000.00 (Exhs. Band 0), representing the 8% t ax withheld by its withholding agents, petitioner 's f ina 1 incom e ta:-: return showed a ta:-: sti 11 due in the amount o f P286,818.00 (E:-: hs. 8 - 4 and B- 4 -a ), which amount was paid on April 15, 19B2 as evidenced by BIR Revenu e Tax Re c e ipt A-919B4B9 (Exh. C and C-1) and Central Bank Confirmation Receipt A- 952 6723 (Exhs . D, D-1 ) . On J a nuar-y 29, .19B2, Wh itesto ne P hilippin es Inc. , as one of petitio ner� � s wi t hho 1d i ng agents, likew ise remitted to the bureau t he a mount of P24�6, 256. 52 r� epr�esen ting thE? 8% wi t ho 1ding ta:-: o n its pay me nt to t h e petition e r of P7 ,078, 2 06 . 66 Exh. ,J -- 1), evidenced by CE~rtificate o �f t.a:�: withheld a t S OI.lr" Ce ( E:�: h. cJ) � The withheld tax was ~aid through Interport Res ources Corporatio n, Wh itestone ' s joint venture partn e r- , as evidenced by BIR Revenue Ta x Receipt No . 8 3 06131 (Exh. L) and Central Bank Confirmation Receipt No. A- 8775905 (Exhs. M, M- 1). It however that petitioner was apprised of s uch payment by the withholding agent only on July 9, .1982.

DECISION - CTA CASE NO. 3727 -3 Posited thus, "In view of the fact that Whitestone Philippines, Inc. had withheld and r-emitted the amount of P246,256.52, which r-epr-esents 8'1. withholding ta:�: of the gr-oss income of P3,078,206.66, to the gove r-nment fr-om its payment to the petitioner-, an over-payment r-esulted when petiti oner� included in its gr-oss income ta}: t he said amount. of P3,078,206.66 and accor-dingly paid the ta:�: due, without the benefit of the ta>: c r-edit for- P246,256.52 withhe l d by Whitestone F'hi 1. ippines, Inc.". Computed this wise: Gr-oss Incc:lll'e F'4,647, 725.(X) Total Ta:-: I:X.te P37l., 818. (X) L.."SS : Wi tht-olding ta:�: 85, CX::X). 00 at sa..tr�ce under- p. D. 1354 Wi.thtulding ta:-: .pc:'\id by Inter-por-t Rescx. tr-c:es C.,or-por-aticn/ Whitestcne Phi 1s. E~46.1 b~..!~:? A'no...tnt of ta:-: still due P 40, ~'\61.48 L e ss : ~ro..tnt of ta:-: paid EXCESS TAX PAVJvENT (Petitioner-'s br-ief, pp. 2 and 6)

DECISION CTA CASE NO. 3 727 - 4- On August 24, 1982 (Exh. A- 1) petitioner filed with the respondent's office a claim for the refund of the amount of P246,256.52 (E:�:h. A) which the respondent neither had granted nor otherwise acted upon as the date of filing the in s tant petition for review on January 25 , 1984. It not appe~r-- that the respcmdent disputes the n ;: latively si mpl e mater. ial facts but for the legal presumption that the a mount sought to be re�funded has been collected in accordance with law an d that the burden of proving entitlement therefor if otherwise erroneously collected lies with the taxpayer. The s o 1f? issue presented is whether the petitioner has esta b 1ished a va 1id c 1aim to the r"efund of a n a 11 eged overpaid income ta:�: for the taxable year e nded December 31, 1981. The case before us hardly presents a gripping question. As thus s hown the basi s for the claim is not short of s pec: if ic s upport in '?rms of tractable data openly laid and fully di s closed, as such deserves the credence normally accorded in the a bsence of contrary evi den ce. Res pondent points to no far.: tu a 1 er-ror-s nor super f 1ui ties that need be

DECISION ��� CTA CASE NO. 3727 _.. 5 N NO abr-idged. Neither- was ther-e any de �f ic .iency assessment issued. And th e r-ecor�d s make i t c 1 ear- that the r-equisite statements and c e r-tifications of the income tax paid ~nd r-emitted upon which tacked the claimed r-efund for� the over-payment could r-eadily fur-nish the basis for� a definite r-esolve but off ic ia 1 action appear-s to ha ve r-emain e d at idling speed so to speak. Su f f .ice it ther-efor-e, upon the r-ec or-d s both the cir-cumstances obtaining and the r-elevant legal standar-ds compel the conclusion that ' petitioner- has pr-oved entitl e ment to a favor-able d e ter-mination. WHEREFORE, finding th E~ petitinl1(?. r.. ' s c l;:lim well taken the n-:~ fund cJ'f the a mount sou ght i s h e r-eby gr�anted. No co s t s. SO ORDERED. Quez on City, Met~o Manila, November- 15, 1988.

DECISION -- CTA CASE NO. 3727 - 6- � WE CO NCUR: UIN C ERT I F I C AT I 0 N I he r eby certify t hat thi s decision was reached after due c onsultation among the members of the Court of Tax Appea l s in acc ordance with Section 13, Article VI II of the Cons ti t ution. AM ANT E Presiding Judge Court of Tax Appea l s c