Dayagbil, Escano, Sabdullah, Villablanca EH 406 TAX 1 December 16, 2017
Dayagbil, Escano, Sabdullah, Villablanca EH 406 TAX 1 December 16, 2017
Dayagbil, Escano, Sabdullah, Villablanca EH 406 TAX 1 December 16, 2017
FACTS:
Respondents paid the following amounts: P7,985.25 from Philippine American (PHILAM)
Accident Insurance Company; P7,047.80 from PHILAM Assurance Company; and P14,541.97
from PHILAM General Insurance Company.
These amounts represented 3% of each companys interest income from mortgage and other
loans. Respondents also paid the taxes required of insurance companies under CA 466.
ISSUE:
RULING:
The rule that tax exemptions should be construed strictly against the taxpayer presupposes
that the taxpayer is clearly subject to the tax being levied against him.
Unless a statute imposes a tax clearly, expressly and unambiguously, what applies is the
equally well-settled rule that the imposition of a tax cannot be presumed.
Where there is doubt, tax laws must be construed strictly against the government and in favor
of the taxpayer. This is because taxes are burdens on the taxpayer, and should not be unduly
imposed or presumed beyond what the statutes expressly and clearly import.
Neither Section 182(A)(3)(dd) nor Section 195-A mentions insurance companies. Section
182(A)(3)(dd) provides for the taxation of lending investors in different localities. Section 195-A
refers to dealers in securities and lending investors. The burden is thus on petitioner to show that
insurance companies are lending investors for purposes of taxation.
In this case, petitioner does not dispute that respondents are in the insurance business.
Petitioner merely alleges that the definition of lending investors under CA 466 is broad enough to
encompass insurance companies. Petitioner insists that because of Section 194(u), the two
principal activities of the insurance business, namely, underwriting and investment, are separately
taxable.
As can be seen, Section 194(u) does not tax the practice of lending per se. It merely defines
what lending investors are. The question is whether the lending activities of insurance companies
make them lending investors for purposes of taxation.
Asia International Auctioneers vs CIR
GR 179115 Sept 26 2012
FACTS:
ISSUE:
W/N AIA is deemed a withholding agent for the deficiency VAT and excise taxes
RULING:
No.
The CIR did not assess AIA as a withholding agent that failed to withhold or remit
the deficiency VAT and excise tax to the BIR under relevant provisions of the Tax Code.
Hence, the argument that AIA is “deemed” a withholding agent for these deficiency taxes
is fallacious.
Indirect taxes, like VAT and excise tax, are different from withholding taxes. In indirect
taxes, the incidence of taxation falls on one person but the burden thereof can be shifted
or passed on to another person, such as when the tax is imposed upon goods
before reaching the consumer who ultimately pays for it. On the other hand, in case of
withholding taxes, the incidence and burden of taxation fall on the same entity, the
statutory taxpayer. The burden of taxation is not shifted to the withholding agent who
merely collects, by withholding, the tax due from income payments to entities arising from
certain transactions27and remits the same to the government. Due to this difference, the
deficiency VAT and excise tax cannot be “deemed” as withholding taxes merely because
they constitute indirect taxes.
Issue 2: W/N the tax amnesty under RA 9399 is the only available program for business
enterprises operating within special economic zones or freeports
No. RA 9399 was passed prior to the passage of RA 9480. RA 9399 does not preclude
taxpayers within its coverage from availing of other tax amnesty programs available or
enacted in futuro like RA 9480. More so, RA 9480 does not exclude from its coverage
taxpayers operating within special economic zones. As long as it is within the bounds of
the law, a taxpayer has the liberty to choose which tax amnesty program it wants to avail.
ISSUE:
Whether or Not PAGCOR is still tax exempt from corporate income tax and VAT
with the enactment of RA 9337?
RULING:
Taxation is the rule and exemption is the exception. Taxation is the rule and exemption
is the exception. The burden of proof rests upon the party claiming exemption to prove
that it is, in fact, covered by the exemption so claimed. As a rule, tax exemptions are
construed strongly against the claimant. Exemptions must be shown to exist clearly and
categorically, and supported by clear legal provision.
In this case, PAGCOR failed to prove that it is still exempt from the payment of corporate
income tax, considering that Sec 1 of RA no. 9337 amended Section 27 © of the National
Internal Revenue Code of 1997 by omitting PAGCOR from the exemption. The legistative
intent is to require PAGCOR to pay corporate income tax; hence, the omission or removal
of PAGCOR from exemption from the payment of corporate income tax. Thus, the
express mention of the GOCCs exempted from payment of coporate income tax excludes
all others. Not being excepted, PAGCOR must be regarded as coming within the purview
of the general rule that GOCCs shall pay corporate income tax.