THE COURT of Tax Appeals (CTA) has reiterated that investigations by unauthorized revenue officers cannot yield a valid tax assessment against a taxpayer.
In a 19-page decision by the CTA en banc dated November 18 and made public Wednesday, the court upheld an earlier ruling by the CTA's Second Division in favor of Makati-based Lapanday Holdings Corp.
The CTA division had canceled the Bureau of Internal Revenue's (BIR) final decision on the disputed assessment of PHP9.03 million against the firm, prompting the tax agency to appeal the case before the CTA en banc.
The CTA Second Division had found that the revenue officers who conducted the audit / investigation of Lapanday for the taxable year 2008 were not authorized through a Letter of Authority to perform the said tax investigation.
"Accordingly, the subject VAT (value-added tax) assessment which came about as a result of their examination of Lapanday's books of accounts and accounting records for taxable year 2008, is void. To stress, a void assessment bears no valid fruit," the court en banc said in affirming the division's ruling. (By Benjamin Pulta)
