Copper miner’s P164-M tax refund claim dismissed

THE Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) dismissed for lack of jurisdiction the appeal of a mining firm over the denial of P163.8-million tax refund claim for 2009.

In a Jan. 2 decision, the court, sitting en banc, affirmed the November 2017 decision and April 2018 resolution of its first division, which denied the claim of Carmen Copper Corp.

The court said the petition of the corporation lacked compelling ground to reverse the rulings of its division as there were no new arguments in its appeal.

“It merely reiterates the arguments it raised in its Motion for Reconsideration which have been extensively addressed by the Court in Division in the Assailed Resolution,” the court said.

“Needless to state, the issue of jurisdiction over Carmen Copper’s judicial claim for input VAT (value-added tax) refund has already been laid to rest in the Assailed Decision and Assailed Resolution,” it added.

The court noted that Carmen Copper filed its judicial claim to the court beyond the prescriptive period under the Tax Code.

According to Section 112 of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, a VAT-registered entity may apply to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) for the issuance of refund or tax credit of its creditable input tax traced to its zerorated sales, within two years after the end of the quarter when the sales were made.

The commissioner may grant the application within 120 days from the filing or submission of complete documents. But in case of full or partial denial or failure of the BIR to act on the claim, the taxpayer may appeal to the CTA within 30 days.

The court said the corporation “belatedly filed its judicial claims for refund before this Court on June 13, 2014, under the mistake assumption” that the 30-day period to file a judicial claim comes after its receipt of notice in the month before.

The court noted that the end of the 30-day period was on May 3, 2010 and January 3, 2011, after the end of the 120-day period for the BIR to act on the claims for the first and second quarter, and third and fourth quarter filings, respectively.

“Evidently, Carmen Copper belatedly filed its Petition for Review with the Court in Division on June 13, 2014. The Court in Division did not acquire jurisdiction,” the court said.

“Such non-compliance with the said mandatory period of 120 + 30 days is fatal to Carmen Copper’s claim of refund on the ground of prescription, resulting in the First Division’s lack of jurisdiction over the said judicial claim. With the foregoing findings, the Court deems it unnecessary to resolve other matters raised,” it added.

The decision was penned by Associate Justice Ma. Belen M. Ringpis-Liban. —