The Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) has found the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in violation of the tax code, revoking over P8.85 million of the supposed tax deficiencies of former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.
These alleged tax deficiencies noted in the BIR tax review stretched from 2011 to 2016, covering her years as Associate Justice at the Supreme Court and as Chief Justice beginning in 2014 and ending in August 2016.
The 45-page decision inked on May 14 granted the petition of Sereno to review the final decision on disputed assessment (FDDA) issued by the BIR last January 2022. This was in response to the former Chief Justice’s objections to tax deficiencies.
“While the government has an interest in the swift collection of taxes, the BIR and its officers and agents cannot be overreaching in their efforts but must perform their duties in accordance with the law, with their own rules of procedure, and always with regard to the basic tenets of due process,” the CTA said.
The CTA said that while the BIR’s review of Sereno’s book of tax records was valid and necessary, the Formal Letter of Demand (FLD) and Final Assessment Notice (FAN), which inform the taxpayer of tax deficiencies, were made “void” because they stand in violation of the former Chief Justice’s right to due process.
