DOJ Opinion No. 122, s. 1992

DOJ OPINION NO. 122 , s. 1992 September 21, 1992 Commissioner Jose U. Ong Bureau of Internal Revenue Quezon City Sir : This has reference to your letter seeking a ruling or resolution on certain queries stated therein relative to the requests of Laguna Technopark, Inc. and Gateway Property Holdings, Inc. for exemption from the creditable withholding tax prescribed under Revenue Regulations No. 1-90, on their sales of industrial lots. It appears that in a Memorandum dated July 17, 1992, you raised the same issues to the then Chairman Peter D. Garrucho of the Board of Investments (BOI), who in reply dated August 12, 1991 reiterated its earlier recommendation to your Office for tax exemption or tax holiday for Laguna Technopark, Inc. However, despite this BOI ruling, your Assistant Commissioner for Legal Service, maintains the view that the grant by the BOI of tax exemption or tax holiday to seller of lots is illegal. Hence, the instant request. With regret we have to decline rendition of the desired ruling or resolution because the resolution of your inquiries would necessarily involve a determination of the correctness of the ruling of the Board of Investments (BOI), a government agency over which the Secretary of Justice possesses no supervisory authority and over the actuations of their officials, he possesses no revisory authority (DOJ Op. No. 91, s. 1982; No. 19, s. 1981; No. 91, s. 1980; No. 99, s. 1978). It is noted that your inquiries would involve an interpretation of certain provisions of Executive Order No. 226, otherwise known as the Omnibus Investments Code of 1987, the implementation of which is purely a BOI matter. It bears stress that under Article 83 of said E.O. No. 226, it is the BOI which is authorized to "promulgate rules and regulations to implement the intent and provision" of the Code, and, therefore, the task of implementing the same appropriately belongs to said office. Cdpr Very truly yours, (SGD.) FRANKLIN M. DRILON Secretary