Citiaire Industrial Services Corp. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

EN BANC [C.T.A. EB CASE NO. 2511. August 11, 2023.] (C.T.A. Case No. 9713) CITIAIRE INDUSTRIAL SERVICES CORPORATION , petitioner , vs. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE , respondent . RESOLUTION DEL ROSARIO , P.J p : Before the Court En Banc is petitioner's Motion for Reconsideration 1 filed on March 21, 2023, sans respondent's comment thereon. 2 Petitioner assails the Decision dated March 7, 2023 of the Court En Banc affirming the Amended Decision dated October 14, 2020 and Resolution dated June 3, 2021 of the Court in Division. The dispositive portion thereof reads: " WHEREFORE , premises considered, the Petition for Review filed by Citiaire Industrial Services Corporation on October 21, 2021 is hereby DENIED . The Amended Decision dated October 14, 2020 and Resolution dated June 3, 2021 of the Court in Division are AFFIRMED . SO ORDERED ." 3 Petitioner prays for the Court En Banc to vacate the Court in Division's Amended Decision dated October 14, 2020 and reinstate its original Decision dated January 23, 2020. Petitioner mainly pleads for the Court En Banc to reconsider its liberal application of the rules on evidence. Upon due deliberation, the Court En Banc finds petitioner's Motion for Reconsideration bereft of merit. The Court En Banc's liberal application of the rules on evidence has been squarely passed upon in the assailed Decision dated March 7, 2023. HTcADC At any rate, the Court En Banc finds no cogent reason to depart from its conclusions in the assailed Decision, specifically that: (i) petitioner failed to inform the BIR of its change of address; (ii) petitioner was bound by the service through registered mail of the assessment; and, (iii) it failed to timely protest the same. Petitioner's failure to protest the assessment is fatal to its cause as Section 228 of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended, 4 provides that the assessment shall become final if not timely protested. With the assessment having become final and executory, the Court En Banc finds no need to belabor on the other arguments raised by petitioner. All told, there is no basis to warrant a modification much more a reversal of the assailed Decision. WHEREFORE , premises considered, petitioner's Motion for Reconsideration is DENIED for lack of merit. CAIHTE SO ORDERED. (SGD.) ROMAN G. DEL ROSARIO Presiding Justice Ma. Belen M. Ringpis-Liban, Catherine T. Manahan, Jean Marie A. Bacorro-Villena, Maria Rowena Modesto-San Pedro, Lanee S. Cui-David and Corazon G. Ferrer-Flores, JJ. , concur. Marian Ivy F. Reyes-Fajardo, J. , is on leave. Footnotes 1. Docket (CTA EB No. 2511), pp. 144-150. 2. Id. at 152. 3. Id. at 133. 4. Sec. 228. Protesting of Assessment. x x x xxx xxx xxx Such assessment may be protested administratively by filing a request for reconsideration or reinvestigation within thirty (30) days from receipt of the assessment in such form and manner as may be prescribed by implementing rules and regulations. Within sixty (60) days from filing of the protest, all relevant supporting documents shall have been submitted; otherwise, the assessment shall become final . (Boldfacing added)