MANILA – The Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) reiterated that criminal charges for some tax law violations must reach the court promptly or they will be dismissed on the ground of prescription.
In an 18-page decision published online recently, the CTA en banc, through Associate Justice Erlinda P. Uy, upheld the dismissal of the criminal case against a businessman on the ground of prescription, or a delay in filing, which meant the prosecution has lost its right to pursue the case.
Ulysses P. Consebido was charged with tax violations in connection with his business, Seven Digit Construction, and Supplies.
It was alleged that he underdeclared his income, resulting in a basic deficiency income tax of PHP22.9 million in 2008.
Cases were filed against him in three separate information on March 18, 2019, or more than a decade later.
The court ruled that "where the period from the institution of judicial proceedings for the investigation until the filing of the information in court exceeds five years, then the government's right to institute criminal action has prescribed."
"(C)onsidering that in the instant case, the period from the filing of the preliminary investigation with the DOJ up to the filing of the information before the court in division exceeded five years, petitioner (government) is barred from instituting the subject tax cases against respondent," the ruling reads. (PNA)
