SECOND DIVISION
[G.R. No. 224150. August 1, 2016.]
COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, petitioner, vs. UNIVATION MOTOR PHILIPPINES, INC., [FORMERLY NISSAN MOTOR PHILIPPINES, INC.], respondent.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, Second Division, issued a Resolution dated01 August 2016 which reads as follows:
"G.R. No. 224150 — Commissioner of Internal Revenue, petitioner, vs. Univation Motor Philippines, Inc., [formerly Nissan Motor Philippines, Inc.], respondent.
After a judicious review of the records, the Court resolved to DENY the instant Petition for Review on Certiorari for late filing and for failure to show that the Court of Tax Appeals En Banc in CTA EB No. 1236 committed reversible error in affirming the July 3, 2014 Decision and September 22, 2014 Resolution of the Court of Tax Appeals First Division which partially granted respondent's claim for refund of its unutilized creditable withholding taxes for Calendar Year 2009.
The instant Petition for Review on Certiorari is filed late considering that in the June 6, 2016 Resolution, the Court denied petitioner's motion for extension of time to file a petition for review on certiorari for lack of service of the motion on the Court of Tax Appeals 1 pursuant to Section 4, Rule 13 in relation to Section 2, Rule 45 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure.
Moreover, as correctly ruled by the Court of Tax Appeals En Banc, quarterly Income Tax Returns (ITRs) of the succeeding year are not considered indispensable in a claim for refund of creditable withholding tax. In Winebrenner & Iñigo Insurance Brokers, Inc. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 2 this Court ruled that the submission and presentation of the quarterly ITRs of the succeeding quarters of a taxable year is not indispensable in a claim for refund. Thus:
. . . Proving that no carry-over has been made does not absolutely require the presentation of the quarterly ITRs.
xxx xxx xxx
. . . What Section 76 [of the Tax Code] requires, just like in all civil cases, is to prove the prima facie entitlement to a claim, including the fact of not having carried over the excess credits to the subsequent quarters or taxable year. It does not say that to prove such a fact, succeeding quarterly ITRs are absolutely needed.
This simply underscores the rule that any document, other than quarterly ITRs may be used to establish that indeed the non-carry overclause has been complied with, provided that such is competent, relevant and part of the records. The Court is thus not prepared to make a pronouncement as to the indispensability of the quarterly ITRs in a claim for refund for no court can limit a party to the means of proving a fact for as long as they are consistent with the rules of evidence and fair play. The means of ascertainment of a fact is best left to the party that alleges the same. The Court's power is limited only to the appreciation of that means pursuant to the prevailing rules of evidence. To stress, what the NIRC merely requires is to sufficiently prove the existence of the non-carry over of excess CWT in a claim for refund.
Additionally, "[w]hen the [taxpayer] was able to establish prima facie its right to the refund by testimonial and object evidence, the [BIR] should have presented rebuttal evidence to shift the burden of evidence back to the [taxpayer]. Indeed, the [BIR] ought to have its own copies of the [taxpayer's] quarterly returns on file, on the basis of which it could rebut the [taxpayer's] claim that it did not carry over its unutilized and excess creditable withholding taxes for the immediately succeeding quarters." 3 SaCIDT
ACCORDINGLY, the Court resolved to AFFIRM the October 28, 2015 Decision and April 1, 2016 Resolution of the Court of Tax Appeals En Banc in CTA EB No. 1236. (J. Brion, on leave)
SO ORDERED."
Very truly yours,
MA. LOURDES C. PERFECTODivision Clerk of Court
By:
(SGD.) TERESITA AQUINO TUAZONDeputy Division Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1. Inadvertently indicated as Court of Appeals in the June 6, 2016 Resolution.
2. G.R. No. 206526, January 28, 2015.
3. Republic v. Team (Phils.) Energy Corp., G.R. No. 188016, January 14, 2015.