G.R. NO. 157064 – 529 Phil. 785 – 498 SCRA 126 – Taxation Law – NIRC Rules – Formal Assessment Notice – Prescriptive Period – BIR has burden to prove issuance of assessment notice
On April 14, 1988, Barcelon, Roxas Securities, Inc. (BRSI, now called UBP Securities, Inc.) filed its annual income tax return. The last day of filing was April 15, 1988. BRSI was subjected to a tax audit and thereafter, the tax examiner determined that BRSI is liable for deficiency taxes amounting to P826k.
On March 17, 1992, BRSI received a warrant of distraint and/or levy to satisfy said deficiency.
BRSI then protested the said warrant as it averred that the same was issued without due process. BRSI contends that it never received a formal assessment notice (FAN)from the Commissioner of Internal Revenue (CIR); that since it never received a FAN, the government’s right to make an assessment has already prescribed at the time it received the warrant.
The CIR maintained that a FAN dated February 1, 1991 was mailed on February 6, 1991; that the assessment was made within the prescriptive period; that it was made within the prescriptive period because under the law, the CIR has three years from the last day of filing of returns to issue an assessment. To prove the alleged mailing of the FAN, the CIR produced BIR record books which contains a list of taxpayers, inclusive of the name of BRSI, their reference numbers, nature of tax, and the tax amount due.
ISSUE: Whether or not the Commissioner of Internal Revenue is correct.
HELD: No. No assessment was made. It is true that there is a presumption that when an assessment was sent via registered mail, the same is received by the taxpayer in the regular course of mail. However, this presumption ceases when the taxpayer denies the receipt of an assessment. It now becomes incumbent upon the CIR to prove that the taxpayer actually receives the assessment by showing (a) that the letter was properly addressed with postage prepaid, and (b) that it was mailed. These can be further proved by presenting the registry receipt issued by the Bureau of Posts or the Registry return card which would have been signed by the taxpayer; if this cannot be done, at least the CIR should have submitted a certification issued by the Bureau of Posts and any other pertinent document which is executed with the intervention of the Bureau of Posts.
In the case at bar, the BIR record presented by the CIR is self-serving. It is not competent proof and does not meet the standard needed in proving the receipt of mail matters such as an assessment sent via registered mail.
As a rule, an assessment is considered made when it is sent within the prescriptive period even if it is received by the taxpayer after the lapse of such period. This rule makes it the more imperative that the release, mailing or sending of the notice be clearly and satisfactorily proved. Mere notations made without the taxpayer’s intervention, notice or control, without adequate supporting evidence cannot suffice; otherwise, the taxpayer would be at the mercy of the revenue offices, without adequate protection or defense.
