THE Supreme Court (SC) has upheld an order suspending the collection of P81.35 million in alleged deficiency taxes from Nippon Express Philippines Corp., ruling that the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) properly suspended collection after the tax agency tried to enforce the assessment before the payment deadline had lapsed, according to a report by BusinessWorld.
In a nine-page decision promulgated on an undisclosed date, the SC denied the petition of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) challenging the CTA’s suspension order. The high court held that the BIR’s issuance of a warrant of distraint and levy before the expiration of the 30-day period for Nippon Express to file an administrative protest rendered the collection action premature.
The case stemmed from deficiency income tax and value-added tax assessments for 2008, which the BIR attempted to collect in 2014. The CTA had initially granted Nippon Express’s petition to suspend collection, a ruling now affirmed by the Supreme Court.