G.R. No. 134467 - ATLAS CONSOLIDATED MINING & DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, VS. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE.DECISION - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, premises considered, the assailed decision and resolution of the Court of Tax Appeals in C.T.A. Case no. 4794 are hereby REVERSED and SET ASIDE . Let the records of this case be remanded to the court a quo for a proper computation of the refundable amount which should be remitted, without interest, to the petitioner within sixty (60) days from the finality of this decision. No pronouncement as to costs." [3] Asking that the foregoing disposition be partially set aside, the instant Petition specifically prays for a new judgment declaring that: "(1) Petitioner was VAT registered beginning January 1, 1988 and continued to be so for the first quarter of 1990; "(2) In the computation of the amount to be refunded to petitioner, the totality of the sales to the EPZA-registered enterprise must be taken into account, not merely the proportion which such sales have to the actual exports of the enterprise. "(3) Section 21 of Revenue Regulations No. 5-87 insofar as it disallows input taxes for purchases not covered by VAT invoices is invalid and contrary to law." [4] The Facts The facts are undisputed. They were culled by the Court of Appeals from the joint stipulation of the parties, which we quote: "The antecedent facts of the case as agreed to by the parties in the Joint Stipulation of Facts submitted to the Court of Tax Appeals on January 8, 1993, follow: "x x x x x x x x x "2. Petitioner is engaged in the business of mining, production and sale of various mineral products, consisting principally of copper concentrates and gold and duly registered with the BIR [Bureau of Internal Revenue] as a VAT [Value Added Tax] enterprise per its Registration No. 32-A-6-002224. (p. 250, BIR Records). "3. Respondent [BIR] duly approved petitioner's application for VAT zero-rating of the following sales: a. Gold to the Central Bank (CB) [now referred to as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas;] b. Copper concentrates to the Philippines Smelting and Refining Corp. (PASAR); and c. Pyrite [concentrated] to Philippine Phosphates, Inc. (Philphos). "The BIR's approval of sales to CB and PASAR was dated April 21, 1988 while zero-rating of sales to PHILPHOS was approved effective June 1, 1988. "4. PASAR and Philphos are both Board of Investments (BOI) and Export Processing Zone Authority (EPZA) registered export-oriented enterprises located in an EPZA zone. "5. On April 20, 1990, petitioner filed a VAT return with the BIR for the first quarter of 1990 whereby it declared its sales described in par. 3 hereof, i.e., to the CB, PASAR and Philphos, as zero-rated sales and therefore not subject to any output VAT x x x. "6. On or about July 24, 1990, petitioner filed a claim with respondent for refund/credit of VAT input taxes on its purchase of goods and services for the first quarter of 1990 in the total amount of P40,078,267.81 xxx. "7. On or about September 2, 1992, petitioner filed an Amended Application for tax credit/refund in the amount of P 35,522,056.58 x x x. "8. On