CTA Case No. 3383 (Decision)

Gtl!PU&tUC OF ;HE l"tHl!Pf>.NJ"I) COURT OF TAX: APP�Al..S QUJ!ZOM C1 !'V COMMONWEALTH MANAGEMENT AND SERVICE CORPORATION, Petitioner, - versus - C.T.A. CASES NOS . 3383 and 3578 COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent. X- - - - - - - - - - - X DEC I SID The above -c aption e d c a ses are consolidated by reason of common issue involving the same peti- tioner on its claims for efund o{ a lleged over- payments of,. income taxes in the amounts of ~84,334.00 and ~100,51 3 .00 for the yeors 1980 and 1981, respectively. Thus appearing, petitioner, o do mestic corpo- ration, had for the taxable year 1980 the withheld income taxes from source by its withholding agents as evidenced by the various BIR Withholding Tax Certificates (Exhibits "B" to "B-7'') "L1g(]r e gating the sum of ~84,334.00. It incur r ed losses , however, in the net amount of ~8,871.00 os s hown in the \� 361

DECISION - CTA CASES NOS. 3383 & 3578 I" - 2- income tax return filed with the resporident on Apr il 15, 198 1. (Exhibit " A") . Petitioner sought �, the refu nd of the total amount withheld as excess inco me tax payment for the year involved, under letter-claim dated September 11, 1981. (Exhibit " C" ) . And , to hedge against th e running of the period of the statute of limitations filed this petition f or review on October 20, 1981 . (CTA Case No . 3383) . It does appear likewise that petitioner filed i ts income tax return for the year 1981 with the respondent's office on March 15 , 1982 showing a net loss of e2,237.DO. (Cxhjbits " 8 " and "13-1"). The taxe s withheld from its serv i ce fees income ' evidenced by BIR Withholding Tax Cert ifi cates (Exhibits "A" to "A.-4" , inclu sive) totalled El00,512.D O, now sought in the petitioner's claim for refund under letter dated June 28, 1982. (Exhibits "C" and "C-1" ) . It filed the instant pet iti on for re vie w on Jun e 28, 1982, entitled CTA Case No. 3578 . It does not appear that respondent Comm i ssioner ~f Intern al Revenue disputes the correctness of \ 36 2

., DECISION - CTA CASE S NOS. 3383 & 3578 .� � - 3- the material facts nor has pre s ented any evid e nce controverting the same. Respondent po s e s no �. objection in having the Pases submitted for de ci- sian on the basis of the pleading s and CTA records. All told the material facts are relatively simple and so are the issues under r es olve es s en- tially addressed to the qu e stion o f whe ther or not petitioner has e stabli s hed a valid claim to the refund of excess income ta x paymen t s fo r the taxable years in question. The cases before Us hardly pres e nt a uripping question or require a tortured ratiocination. As thus shown the basis for the claims are not short of specific support in terms of t r act able data openly laid and fully disclosed � . Going by the records, petitioner's income tax returns for the subject taxable years have shown lo ss es an d exce s s income tax payments. Re s po n cl e n t p o i n t s t o n o ,_ factual errors nor superfluities wh ic h need be abridged. Neither were there any deficien c y assessments issued. Moreover, the r ec ords make ~t clear that the requi s ite st a tem e nts or certi- fications of the income ta xes withheld and deduct ed \

DECI SION - CTA CASE S NOS. 3383 & 3 5 7 El ,. - 4- by th e withholding a g e nt s through whi c h re s po n d e nt collected the income tax es , an d u pon whi ch t ac ked the claim e d refund could furni s h th e bas i s f u r a definite resolve. But official a ct i o n thereon appears consigned to a limbo of linq e ri ng ve rifi- cation, to dateL We s e e no re a son and none i s v ou c h s af ed wh y thes e sim p le c as e s wh e r e f act a n d Fa br ica t ion are no longer indisti.n ~Jui s h a b Jc , Ghould r enw in c u r iou s l y unperturbed , It may be neces s ary to r ep eat wha t this Court said in what s o pl a inly app l y to th e cases at bar that, 11 But. as sho uld b e expe c te d, th e action could be maintained on t he bas i s of t he r pleadings, admi s sion and affi davit of the pa r t ies which neither provok e s any un s ettling qu es ti o n~ nor involves material factual i ss ues ue nuine ly in dispute. The administrativ e mac h i n ery or pr ocess employed on the right to the c laim s e ems to h a.v e .moved bar e ly at idling speed, To b e r e latively q u i e s c e n t f o r so me f o u r ( 4 ) y e 3 r s o n a c l a i n1 o f such a simple nature and no t s o cons id e r a ble a ~take which no longer i ncit es controv ers y n or excites a queasy sense of ex pe c t a ti on , c r ea t es \ 364

---- DEClSION - CTA CASES NOS. 3383 & 3578 ,. - 5- but an unwarranted bureaucratic inertia of inaction. Readily a legal conclusion can be safely reached. Petitioner or any similarly circumstanced taxpayer for that matter deserves a measure of fair dealing in a more expeditious a nd competently responsive action. (Commonwealth Pacific Consultants, Lt d ., v . Commissioner of Internal Revenue, CTA Case No . 2 9 5 3 , t~ a y 1 5 , 1 9 8 2 ) , " c i. t c c1 i n Da t 8 p r c p ( Ph i 1 s � ) Inc. v , Commis~:;ioner of Ir,L.ernnl Hcvcnue, ClA C<1ue No . 3600 , March 30, 1984; nppeul v1il: hdrawn, C.rt . L-67735, Se pt ember 12, 1984. The circumstances obtaining in the cases at bar of the mold no different from the aforccited , cases compel Us to sustain the tenability of the petitioner's right to the refund bRsed on t he pleadings and records. WHEREFORE, respond ent is hereby ordered to refund to the petitioner the amounts of !84 , ~~4.00 (CTA Case No . 3383) and el00,237.00 (CTA Case No. 3578), without pronouncement as to costs. \ 365

DECISION - CTA CASE S NOS . 3383 & 3578 - 6- SO ORDERED. Quezon City, Metro Manila, June 30 , 1987 . ~.~ AssociGte Judge WE CONCUR: '--- � ROAQUIN r Judge \ 36o