Rules of the Court of Tax Appeals

September 10, 1955 RULES OF THE COURT OF TAX APPEALS Pursuant to the provisions of section 8 of Republic Act No. 1125, the Court of Tax Appeals hereby adopts and promulgates the following rules for the conduct of the business of the Court: RULE 1 Title and Construction SECTION 1 . These rules shall be known and cited as the Rules of the Court of Tax Appeals. SECTION 2 . These rules shall be liberally construed in order to promote their object and to assist the parties in obtaining just, speedy, and inexpensive determination if every action and proceeding. RULE 2 Seal SECTION 1 . The seal of the Court of Tax Appeals shall be circular in form and shall be of the usual size. It shall bear, in its center, a design of the coat of arms of the Republic of the Philippines, and running from left to right on the upper margin thereof the words "COURT OF TAX APPEALS", and from left to right on its lower margin the words "REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES." RULE 3 Place of Offices and Business Hours SECTION 1 . For the purpose of transacting its business, the place of business of the Court of Tax Appeals shall be in the City of Manila and at such other cities or provinces as it may designate. SECTION 2 . The hearings before the Court of Tax Appeals shall be on such days and at such times as it may, by order and upon notice to the parties concerned, fix. However, the first hours of the morning session of the Court every Saturday of each week shall be devoted to hearing motions, unless, for special reasons and upon motion of a party, the Court shall fix another day for the hearing of any particular motion. SECTION 3 . The office of the Clerk of the Court of Tax Appeals shall be open for the purpose of receiving petitions, pleadings, motions, and the like, during the hours of eight to twelve a.m., and one to four p.m., on Mondays to Fridays, and from eight a.m. to one p.m., on Saturdays, except on such days as may be designated by law or executive proclamation as being official holidays. RULE 4 Form and Style of Papers Filed with the Court SECTION 1 . All papers filed with the Court shall be either printed or typewritten, and shall be fastened on the left side only, in the case of printed papers, and on the upper left hand corner, in the case of typewritten papers. All such papers shall have a caption and signature, and copies, as specified below. SECTION 2 . Printed papers shall be printed in ten or twelve point type on good unglazed paper 5 7/8 inches wide by 9 inches long, with an inside margin not less than 1 inch wide, and with double leaded text and single leaded quotations. SECTION 3 . Typewritten papers shall be typed double-spaced on only one side of plain white paper 8 1/2 inches wide by 13 inches long, and weighing not less than sixteen pounds to the ream, and shall have no backs or covers. SECTION 4 . Citations shall be indented at least one inch from the inside margin, and shall be typed single-spaced. SECTION 5 . Six signed and conformed copies shall be filed in addition to the signed original of every paper filed, except as otherwise hereinafter provided. Papers to be filed in more than one proceeding shall include one additional copy for each such additional proceeding. SECTION 6 . All copies shall be clear and legible, but they may be on any weight paper. RULE 5 Initiation of Proceeding Petition for Review SECTION 1 . In all case brought or submitted to this Court the taxpayer or the aggrieved party shall be called the "Petitioner" and the Collector of Internal Revenue, the Commissioner of Customs, or the proper provincial or city Board of Assessment Appeals, as the case may be, shall be called the "Respondent"; the pleading shall be entitled "Petition for Review." SECTION 2 . The Petition for Review shall contain allegations showing jurisdiction in the Court, a concise statement of the ultimate facts and a summary statement of the issues involved in the case, as well as the reasons relied upon for the reversal of the respondent's decision. A copy of the decision appealed from shall be attached to the Petition for Review. SECTION 3 . No Petition for Review shall be received for filing by the Clerk of this Court unless the petitioner submits proof of payment of the docketing fees. Upon receipt of the petition, the proceeding will be docketed and assigned a number, which shall be placed by the parties on all papers thereafter filed in the proceeding. The Clerk of the Court of Tax Appeals will then issue the necessary Summons to the respondent. RULE 6 Motion for Dismissal of Petition SECTION 1 . The respondent may, within the time for filing his answer, file a motion for the dismissal of the Petition for Review. SECTION 2 . The petition shall, within five days after his receipt of a copy of the motion to dismiss, file his Opposition thereto. SECTION 3 . Upon receipt of the said Opposition or upon the expiration of five days from the time the petitioner received his copy of the Motion to Dismiss with no Opposition thereto having been filed, the Clerk of Court shall set the Motion to Dismiss for hearing by the Court. RULE 7 Answer SECTION 1 . Within fifteen days after service of Summons, the respondent shall file his Answer thereto. The Answer shall contain a concise statement of the ultimate facts and shall be so drawn as fully and completely to advise the petitioner and the Court of the nature of the defense. SECTION 2 . The Collector of Internal Revenue, the Commissioner of Customs, and the respondent provincial or city Board of Assessment Appeals, shall certify and forward to the Court within ten days after filing his Answer, all the records of the case in his possession, with the pages duly numbered, and if the records are in separate folders, then the folders will also be numbered. The Court may, on motion, and for good cause shown, grant an extension of time within which to submit the aforesaid records of the case. RULE 8 Particulars SECTION 1 . The Court, upon its own motion or upon motion of either party filed before responding to a pleading or, if no responsive pleading is permitted by these rules, within seven days after service of the pleading upon him, may order a further and better statement of the nature of the claim or defense or of any matter stated in any pleading, which is not averred with sufficient definiteness or particularity. Such motion, when filed by a party, shall point out the defects complained of and the details desired. SECTION 2 . If an order issued by the Court pursuant to the provisions of section 1 hereof is not obeyed within seven days after notice of the order, or within such other time as the Court may fix, the Court may strike out the pleading to which the motion was directed or may make such other order as it deems just. The Court may upon motion set aside the order, or modify it in the interest of justice. RULE 9 Motions for Postponement and Extension of Time to File Pleadings and other Papers SECTION 1 . All motions or petitions for postponement or extension of time to file pleadings and other papers must be accompanied by pertinent supporting papers, if any, and shall be filed with this Court and copies thereof served by the movant of applicant to all the parties concerned, at least three days before the hearing thereof. Motions or petitions for postponement or extension of time to file pleadings and other papers will not be granted unless for good cause duly shown. RULE 10 Appearance of Parties SECTION 1 . Any attorney may enter his appearance by signing the initial petition or the answer. Any attorney may later enter his appearance only by filing an entry of appearance which shall be signed by him and shall show his mailing address. A copy of the entry of appearance shall be served by the attorney or party entering his appearance upon the opposing party. Any attorney who appears in open court without previously having filed his written appearance must give his business address to the Clerk of Court. Any attorney or party who has filed his appearance and who changes his address of record shall notify the Clerk of Court and the adverse party of such change of address, and a separate notice of such change of address shall be filed for each additional proceeding. RULE 11 Setting of Cases for Hearing SECTION 1 . Immediately after the respondent shall have filed his answer to the Petition for Review, the Clerk of Court shall set the case for hearing on the first available date immediately following the tenth day after the filing thereof. SECTION 2 . Where, due to the urgency of the case, either the petitioner or the respondent desires that the hearing thereof be set on an earlier date, the petitioner shall so state in his pleading, in which event the case shall be set for hearing by the Clerk on the first available date immediately after the filing of the respondent's Answer. RULE 12 Motions for Suspension of Collection of Tax SECTION 1 . Where, pursuant to the provisions of section 11 of Republic Act No. 1125, the collection by the Bureau of Internal Revenue or the Commissioner of Customs of the amount of the taxpayer's liability whether such collection be sought by means of a demand for payment or by levy, distraint and/or sale of any property of the taxpayer, as provided by existing law may jeopardize the interest of the Government and/or the taxpayer, the interested party may file a motion for the suspension of the collection of the tax liability. SECTION 2 . The motion for the suspension of the collection of the tax may be filed together with the Petition for Review or with the Answer, as the case may be, or in a separate motion filed by the interested party at any stage of the proceedings. SECTION 3 . The motion for the suspension of the collection of the tax shall be under oath and shall state clearly and distinctly the facts and the grounds relied upon by the movant in support of the suspension of the collection of the tax. SECTION 4 . Unless a shorter period is fixed by the Court because of the urgency of the motion, the adverse party shall, within five days after a copy of the motion is received by him, file his Opposition thereto, which shall state clearly and distinctly the facts and the grounds relied upon by him in support of his Opposition. SECTION 5 . The Clerk of Court shall, upon receipt of the said Opposition, set the motion shall be given preference over all other cases. At the hearing, both parties shall submit their respective evidence in support of their respective contentions. However, for the sake of expediency, upon motion of the parties or by the Court motu proprio , the hearing of the motion for the suspension of the collection of the tax may be consolidated with the hearing on the merits of the case. RULE 13 Motions for Reconsideration and New Trial SECTION 1 . Any party desiring a reconsideration of any resolution, order or decision of this Court shall file a motion for reconsideration within fifteen days, in the case of an interlocutory order or resolution, from the date he receives notice of the Court's resolution or order, or, in the case of a decision of the Court, before the Court's decision becomes final. SECTION 2 . The adverse party may file his Opposition to the motion for reconsideration within five days after such adverse party receives a copy of the motion seeking the reconsideration of an order or resolution of the Court, or within ten days after he receives a copy of the motion seeking the reconsideration of a decision of the Court. SECTION 3 . The motion for reconsideration, as well as the Opposition thereto, shall embody all the arguments in support thereof, and the Clerk of Court shall set the same for hearing on the next "Motion Day". Upon the expiration of the periods set forth in the next preceding section hereof, without any Opposition having been filed by the other party, the motion for reconsideration shall be considered submitted for the resolution of the Court unless the Court shall deem it necessary to hear the oral arguments of the parties, in which case the Court shall issue the proper order. SECTION 4 . Motions for reconsideration shall suspend the running of the period within which the appeal must be perfected. SECTION 5 . The provisions of Rule 37 of the Rules of Court shall be applicable to motions for new trial before this Court. RULE 14 Stenographic Notes SECTION 1 . Hearings before the Court shall be stenographically reported, and it shall be the duty of the stenographer who attends the hearings to deliver to the Clerk of Court, immediately after the close of the Court's sessions, all the notes he has taken, properly initialed by the stenographer and the Clerk of Court, which notes shall attached to the records of the proper cases. It shall be the duty of the Clerk of Court to demand that the stenographer comply with this requirement, and the Clerk, shall stamp the date when such notes are received by him. When the notes are transcribed, the original of the transcript, duly initialed by the stenographer on every page thereof, and certified by him, shall be delivered to the Clerk of Court, who shall attach the same to the records of the case. RULE 15 Remission of Records to the Supreme Court SECTION 1 . Whenever any party adversely affected by any resolution, order or decision of the Court of Appeals to the Supreme Court from such resolution, order or decision, and upon requirement of the Supreme Court, it shall be the duty of the Clerk of this Court to certify and forward to the Supreme Court, the decision, order or resolution appealed from, together with all the record of the case as may be required by the Supreme Court. RULE 16 Applicability of the Rules of the Court of the First Instance SECTION 1 . The provisions of the Rules of Court applicable to proceedings before the Courts of First Instance shall, insofar as they may not be inconsistent with the provisions of Republic Act 1125 and of these rules, be applicable to cases pending before this Court, except that, in any case pending before it, the Court may, in the exercise of its discretion, fix a shorter period for the filing of pleading and other papers. RULE 17 Legal Fees and Costs SECTION 1 . Docket Fees . For filing an action or proceeding and for all services in the same, if the tax assessment or customs duties involved, inclusive of interest or surcharges, or value of the property in seizure cases, or the amount of the contested assessment of real property involved, is: (a) Less than P3,000 P16.00 (b) P3,000 or more but less than P10,000 20.00 (c) P10,000 or more but less than P50,000 25.00 (d) P50,000 or more but less than P100,000 35.00 (e) P100,000 or more but less than P200,000 50.00 (f) P200,000 or more but less than P500,000 75.00 (g) P500,000 or more but less than P1,000,000 100.00 (h) P1,000,000 or more 200.00 (i) When the value of the subject matter cannot be estimated 25.00 In customs seizure cases, the value thereof for this purpose shall be the landed cost, which shall be declared and certified to by the petitioner or the redemption price as fixed, if there be any. SECTION 2 . Other Fees . (a) Record. For furnishing transcripts of the record or copies of the record, judgment or entry of which any person is entitled to demand and receive a copy, for each hundred words, ten centavos. (b) Certificate . For each certificate not on process, fifty centavos. (c) For Stenographers . Stenographers shall give certified transcript of notes taken by them to every person requesting same upon payment of (1) eighty centavos for each page of not less than two hundred words before the appeal is taken and (2) forty centavos for the same page, after the filing of the appeal. SECTION 3 . Witness Fees and Costs . The witness fees and the costs that may be awarded to the prevailing party shall be the same as those provided in section 11(a) of Rule 130 and section 10, Rule 131 of the Rules of Court, respectively. RULE 18 Effectivity SECTION 1 . These rules shall take effect thirty days after their publication in the Official Gazette . They shall govern all cases brought after they take effect, and also all further proceedings in cases then pending, except to the extent that in the opinion of the Court their application would not be feasible or would work injustice. DONE at the City of Manila, Philippines, September 10, 1955.