G.R. NO. 149671 - COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, VS. SEKISUI JUSHI PHILIPPINES, INC..D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, premises considered, the present petition for review is hereby DENIED DUE COURSE and accordingly DISMISSED for lack of merit. The Decision dated April 26, 2001 of the Court of Tax Appeals in CTA Case No. 5751 is hereby AFFIRMED and UPHELD." [4] On the other hand, the dispositive portion of the CTA Decision reads: " WHEREFORE , the instant Petition for Review is PARTIALLY GRANTED. [Petitioner] is hereby ordered to refund or to issue a Tax Credit Certificate in favor of the [Respondent] in the amount of P4,377,102.26 representing excess input taxes paid for the period covering January 1 to June 30, 1997." [5] The Facts The uncontested [6] facts are narrated by the CA as follows: "Respondent is a domestic corporation duly organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the Philippines with principal office located at the Special Export Processing Zone, Laguna Technopark, Biñan, Laguna. It is principally engaged in the business of manufacturing, importing, exporting, buying, selling, or otherwise dealing in, at wholesale such goods as strapping bands and other packaging materials and goods of similar nature, and any and all equipment, materials, supplies used or employed in or related to the manufacture of such finished products. "Having registered with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) as a value-added tax (VAT) taxpayer, respondent filed its quarterly returns with the BIR, for the period January 1 to June 30, 1997, reflecting therein input taxes in the amount of P4,631,132.70 paid by it in connection with its domestic purchase of capital goods and services. Said input taxes remained unutilized since respondent has not engaged in any business activity or transaction for which it may be liable for output tax and for which said input taxes may be credited. "On November 11, 1998, respondent filed with the One-Stop-Shop Inter-Agency Tax Credit and Duty Drawback Center of the Department of Finance (CENTER-DOF) two (2) separate applications for tax credit/refund of VAT input taxes paid for the period January 1 to March 31, 1997 and April 1 to June 30, 1997, respectively. There being no action on its application for tax credit/refund under Section 112 (B) of the 1997 National Internal Revenue Code (Tax Code), as amended, private respondent filed, within the two (2)-year prescriptive period under Section 229 of said Code, a petition for review with the Court of Tax Appeals on March 26, 1999. "Petitioner filed its Answer to the petition asseverating that: (1) said claim for tax credit/refund is subject to administrative routinary investigation by the BIR; (2) respondent miserably failed to show that the amount claimed as VAT input taxes were erroneously collected or that the same were properly documented; (3) taxes due and collected are presumed to have been made in accordance with law, hence, not refundable; (4) the burden of proof is on the taxpayer to establish his right to a refund in an action for tax refund. Failure to discharge