CIR v. Pilipinas Kyohritsu Inc.

 

CIR v. Pilipinas Kyohritsu Inc.

CTA EB NO. 2334

January 20, 2022

Doctrine:

The non-submission of complete supporting documents at the administrative level is not necessarily fatal to the claimant's judicial claim nor is it a condition precedent to a judicial claim.

Facts:

On January 28, 2020, the Court in Division rendered the assailed Decision partially granting PKI's Petition for Review8 On February 13, 2020, the CIR filed a Motion for Partial Reconsideration Re: Decision dated 28 January 2020.9 PKI filed a Motion to Admit Comment on July 17, 2020. In the Resolution dated August 3, 2020, the Court in Division granted PKI's Motion to Admit Comment and admitted its Comment as part of the records of the case. In the same Resolution, the Court denied the CIR's Motion for Partial Reconsideration for lack of merit. Undeterred, the CIR filed a Petition for Review before the Court En Bane on September 22, 2020. After the filing of PKI's Comment (on the Petition for Review dated 21 September 2020)13 on January 26, 2021, the Court En Banc gave due course to the Petition for Review and submitted the same for decision in the Resolution dated February 17, 2021.

Issue:

Whether or not failure to submit supporting documents in the administrative level is not fatal to PKI’s claim for refund.

Held: 

Yes. The CIR posits that PKI's failure to submit documents supporting its claim for refund makes its administrative claim for refund pro-forma. As such, the Court in Division was deprived of jurisdiction to entertain the Petition for Review in CTA Case No. 9557. The Court has repeatedly ruled that the non-submission of complete supporting documents at the administrative level is not necessarily fatal to the claimant's judicial claim nor is it a condition precedent to a judicial claim. To reiterate, a taxpayer may present additional documents before the CT A to substantiate its claim for refund, albeit the same were not presented at the administrative level.