Case Digest (G.R. No. 255520)
Facts:
Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Petitioner, vs. Stradcom Corporation, Respondent, G.R. No. 255520, April 21, 2025, the Supreme Court Third Division, Caguioa, J., writing for the Court.In 1998 the National Government, through the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), entered into a Build‑Own‑Operate Agreement with Stradcom Corporation for the LTO‑IT Project; DOTC was to pay Stradcom on billing for services rendered while DOTC would collect end‑user fees. On April 16, 2012 Stradcom filed its Annual Income Tax Return (AITR) for taxable year (TY) 2011. On July 5, 2013 an Assistant Commissioner of Internal Revenue demanded payment of alleged deficiency income tax for TY 2011; on July 31, 2013 the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) issued a Warrant of Distraint and/or Levy (WDL) and a Warrant of Garnishment (WOG) against Stradcom. Stradcom protested that no Preliminary Assessment Notice (PAN) or Final Assessment Notice (FAN), nor Letter of Authority (LOA) and Notice for Informal Conference (NIC), had been issued; the CIR denied a proposed settlement. To lift the WDL/WOG Stradcom paid PHP 488,377,342.81 in cash on August 29, 2013.
On May 15, 2015 Stradcom filed an administrative claim for refund or issuance of a tax credit certificate (TCC) with the BIR for PHP 325,381,413.00; after inaction it filed a Petition for Review with the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) Special First Division on August 25, 2015. In a Decision dated May 29, 2018, the CTA Division granted Stradcom's petition and ordered the CIR to refund PHP 325,381,412.81, finding the two‑year prescriptive period ran from payment (August 29, 2013) and that Stradcom was denied due process because the BIR issued WDL/WOG without LOA, NIC, PAN, and FAN. The CTA Division denied the CIR's motion for reconsideration in a Resolution dated September 24, 2018.
The CTA En Banc in CTA EB No. 1949 affirmed the CTA Division in a Decision dated July 23, 2020 and denied the CIR's motion for reconsideration in a Resolution dated January 27, 2021. The CIR filed this Petition for Review on Certiorari under Rule 45 seeking reversal. The parties filed the required pleadings before the Court; the CIR chiefly relied on the Court's decision in SMI‑Ed Philippi...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Did the Court of Tax Appeals En Banc err in holding that Stradcom was denied due process and in ordering a refund/TCC of PHP 325,381,412.81 for TY ...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
- (Pro-only)
Ratio:
- (Pro-only)
Doctrine:
- (Pro-only)