CTA junks Philip Morris P10-M tax refund suit

FILE: Court of Tax Appeals of the Philippines located at Agham Road, National Government Center, Diliman, Quezon City in Metro Manila. (Photo By Judgefloro – Own work, Public Domain)

MANILA – The Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) has turned down a petition filed by tobacco product manufacturer Philip Morris Philippines Manufacturing Inc. for a tax refund amounting to PHP10.8 million.

In a 14-page decision dated March 9 released on Friday, the tax court’s en banc denied for lack of merit and affirmed the earlier decision handed down by the CTA’s First Division on the case.

The firm, in seeking a tax refund or an issuance of a tax credit certificate for PHP10.8 million, claimed the sum represents the excise tax it advanced or deposited on cigarette products it exported from April to December 2008.

The CTA en banc upheld the division’s ruling in citing that the two-year prescriptive period under tax laws precludes the firm from recovering the excise tax it paid in advance.

In finding the firm’s arguments without merit, the CTA said the tobacco manufacturer “failed to timely file its administrative and judicial claims for a refund within the two-year prescriptive period” under the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC).