SC affirms P51-M canceled tax assessment on Unisys

THE Philippine Supreme Court (SC) has affirmed the cancellation of the tax assessment on Unisys Public Sector Services Corp. worth P51.19 million representing its erroneously paid value-added tax (VAT) for three quarters in 2009 and three quarters of 2010.

In an 11-page resolution dated June 15 and made public on July 6, The High Court said the commissioner of internal revenue’s (CIR) appeal only “rehashed” its arguments rejected by the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA).

The High Court noted that the CIR’s petition was denied for lack of merit.

“It is worth noting that the CTA division and the CTA en banc were on in finding that respondent made an overpayment of VAT in the amount of P51.19 million and is entitled to the refund of the same,” according to the tribunal’s ruling.

The CTA previously ruled that the company had failed to take into account the 7% standard input tax mandated by the country’s revenue code. Its actual sales for the six quarters were lower than the standard input tax rate.

The company is a VAT-registered domestic corporation engaged in manufacturing and supplying computer hardware and other information technology solutions to government agencies.

CIR, the petitioner, argued that the company failed to comply with the requirements for the claim for a refund.

The High Court disagreed with the argument, as it said the nonsubmission of supporting documents is not fatal to the taxpayer’s judicial claim for a VAT refund.

It added that the CIR did not present proof that it required the company to submit additional documents and likewise cannot claim that the taxpayer failed to comply with the requirements.

“The law accords the claimant sufficient latitude to determine the completeness of his submission because, in the first place, he bears the burden of proving his entitlement to a tax refund or credit,” said the court. — John Victor D. Ordoñez