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REPUBLIC ACTS
AN ACT EXPANDING THE JURISDICTION
OF THE COURT OF TAX APPEALS (CTA), ELEVATING ITS RANK TO THE LEVEL OF A
COLLEGIATE COURT WITH SPECIAL JURISDICTION AND ENLARGING ITS
MEMBERSHIP, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE CERTAIN SECTIONS OR REPUBLIC ACT
NO. 1125, AS AMENDED, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE LAW CREATING THE COURT OF
TAX APPEALS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. |
Section 1. Section 1 of Republic Act No. 1125, as amended is hereby further amended to read as follows: "Sec.
1. Court; Justices; Qualifications; Salary; Tenure. - There is hereby
created a Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) which shall be of the same level
as the Court of Appeals, possessing all the inherent powers of a Court
of Justice, and shall consist of a Presiding Justice and five (5)
Associate Justices. The incumbent Presiding Judge and Associate Judges
shall continue in office and bear the new titles of Presiding Justice
and Associate Justices. The Presiding Justice and the most Senior
Associate Justice shall serve as chairmen of the two (2) Divisions. The
additional three (3) Justices and succeeding members of the Court shall
be appointed by the President upon nomination by the Judicial and Bar
Council. The Presiding Justice shall be so designated in his
appointment, and the Associate Justices shall have precedence according
to the date of their respective appointments, or when the appointments
of two (2) or more of them shall bear the same date, according to the
order in which their appointments were issued by the President. They
shall have the same qualifications, rank, category, salary, emoluments
and other privileges, be subject to the same inhibitions and
disqualifications, and enjoy the same retirements and other benefits as
those provided for under existing laws for the Presiding Justice and
Associate Justices of the Court of Appeals. Sec. 2. Sec. 2 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows: "Sec.
2. Sitting En Banc or Division; Quorum; Proceedings. - The CTA may sit
en banc or in two (2) Divisions, each Division consisting of three (3)
Justices. "Sec.
3. Clerk of Court; Division Clerks of Court; Appointment;
Qualification; Compensation. - The CTA shall have a Clerk of Court and
three (3) Division Clerks of Court who shall be appointed by the
Supreme Court. No person shall be appointed Clerk of Court or Division
Clerk of Court unless he is duly authorized to practice law in the
Philippines. The Clerk of Court and Division Clerks of Court shall
exercise the same powers and perform the same duties in regard to all
matters within the Court's jurisdiction, as are exercised and performed
by the Clerk of Court and Division Clerks of Court of the Court of
Appeals, in so far as the same may be applicable or analogous; and in
the exercise of those powers and the performance of those duties they
shall be under the direction of the Court. The Clerk of Court and the
Division Clerks of Court shall have the same rank, privileges, salary,
emoluments, retirement and other benefits as those provided for the
Clerk of Court and Division Clerks of Court of the Court of Appeals,
respectively." Sec. 4. Sec. 4 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows: "Sec.
4. Other Subordinate Employees. - The Supreme Court shall appoint all
officials and employees of the CTA, in accordance with the Civil
Service Law. The Supreme Court shall fix their salaries and prescribe
their duties." Sec. 5. Sec. 5 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows: "Sec.
5. Disqualifications. - No Justice or other officer or employee of the
CTA shall intervene, directly or indirectly, in the management or
control of any private enterprise which in any way may be affected by
the functions of the Court. Justices of the Court shall be disqualified
from sitting in any case on the same grounds provided under Rule one
hundred thirty-seven of the Rules of Court for the disqualification of
judicial officers. No person who has once served in the Court in a
permanent capacity, either as Presiding Justice or as Associate Justice
thereof, shall be qualified to practice as counsel before the Court for
a period of one (1) year from his retirement or resignation." Sec. 6. Sec. 6 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows: "Sec.
6. Place of Office. - The CTA shall have its principal office in Metro
Manila and shall hold hearings at such time and place as it may, by
order in writing, designate." Sec. 7. Sec. 7 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows: "Sec.
7. Jurisdiction. - The CTA shall exercise: "a.
Exclusive appellate jurisdiction to review by appeal, as herein
provided: "1.
Decisions of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue in cases involving
disputed assessments, refunds of internal revenue taxes, fees or other
charges, penalties in relation thereto, or other matters arising under
the National Internal Revenue or other laws administered by the Bureau
of Internal Revenue; "1.
Exclusive original jurisdiction over all criminal offenses arising from
violations of the National Internal Revenue Code or Tariff and Customs
Code and other laws administered by the Bureau of Internal Revenue or
the Bureau of Customs: Provided, however, That offenses or felonies
mentioned in this paragraph where the principal amount o taxes and
fees, exclusive of charges and penalties, claimed is less than One
million pesos (P1,000,000.00) or where there is no specified amount
claimed shall be tried by the regular Courts and the jurisdiction of
the CTA shall be appellate. Any provision of law or the Rules of Court
to the contrary notwithstanding, the criminal action and the
corresponding civil action for the recovery of civil liability for
taxes and penalties shall at all times be simultaneously instituted
with, and jointly determined in the same proceeding by the CTA, the
filing of the criminal action being deemed to necessarily carry with it
the filing of the civil action, and no right to reserve the filling of
such civil action separately from the criminal action will be
recognized. "a.
Over appeals from the judgments, resolutions or orders of the Regional
Trial Courts in tax cases originally decided by them, in their
respected territorial jurisdiction. "1.
Exclusive original jurisdiction in tax collection cases involving final
and executory assessments for taxes, fees, charges and penalties:
Provided, however, That collection cases where the principal amount of
taxes and fees, exclusive of charges and penalties, claimed is less
than One million pesos (P1,000,000.00) shall be tried by the proper
Municipal Trial Court, Metropolitan Trial Court and Regional Trial
Court. "a.
Over appeals from the judgments, resolutions or orders of the Regional
Trial Courts in tax collection cases originally decided by them, in
their respective territorial jurisdiction. "Sec.
10. Power to Administer Oaths; Issue Subpoena; Punish for Contempt. -
The Court shall have the power to administer oaths, receive evidence,
summon witnesses by subpoena duces tecum, subject in all respects to
the same restrictions and qualifications as applied in judicial
proceedings of a similar nature. The Court shall, in accordance with
Rule seventy-one of the Rules of Court, have the power to punish for
contempt for the same causes, under the same procedure and with the
same penalties provided therein." "Sec.
11. Who May Appeal; Mode of Appeal; Effect of Appeal. - Any party
adversely affected by a decision, ruling or inaction of the
Commissioner of Internal Revenue, the Commissioner of Customs, the
Secretary of Finance, the Secretary of Trade and Industry or the
Secretary of Agriculture or the Central Board of Assessment Appeals or
the Regional Trial Courts may file an appeal with the CTA within thirty
(30) days after the receipt of such decision or ruling or after the
expiration of the period fixed by law for action as referred to in Sec.
7(a)(2) herein. "Appeal
shall be made by filing a petition for review under a procedure
analogous to that provided for under Rule 42 of the 1997 Rules of Civil
Procedure with the CTA within thirty (30) days from the receipt of the
decision or ruling or in the case of inaction as herein provided, from
the expiration of the period fixed by law to act thereon. A Division of
the CTA shall hear the appeal: Provided, however, That with respect to
decisions or rulings of the Central Board of Assessment Appeals and the
Regional Trial Court in the exercise of its appellate jurisdiction
appeal shall be made by filing a petition for review under a procedure
analogous to that provided for under rule 43 of the 1997 Rules of Civil
Procedure with the CTA, which shall hear the case en banc. "All
other cases involving rulings, orders or decisions filed with the CTA
as provided for in Sec. 7 shall be raffled to its Divisions. A party
adversely affected by a ruling, order or decision of a Division of the
CTA may file a motion for reconsideration of new trial before the same
Division of the CTA within fifteens (15) days from notice thereof:
Provide, however, That in criminal cases, the general rule applicable
in regular Courts on matters of prosecution and appeal shall likewise
apply. "No
appeal taken to the CTA from the decision of the Commissioner of
Internal Revenue or the Commissioner of Customs or the Regional Trial
Court, provincial, city or municipal treasurer or the Secretary of
Finance, the Secretary of Trade and Industry and Secretary of
Agriculture, as the case may be shall suspend the payment, levy,
distraint, and/or sale of any property of the taxpayer for the
satisfaction of his tax liability as provided by existing law:
Provided, however, That when in the opinion of the Court the collection
by the aforementioned government agencies may jeopardize the interest
of the Government and/or the taxpayer the Court any stage of the
proceeding may suspend the said collection and require the taxpayer
either to deposit the amount claimed or to file a surety bond for not
more than double the amount with the Court. "In
criminal and collection cases covered respectively by Sec. 7(b) and (c)
of this Act, the Government may directly file the said cases with the
CTA covering amounts within its exclusive and original jurisdiction." Sec. 10. Sec. 13 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows: "Sec.
13. Decision, Maximum Period for Termination of Cases. - Cases brought
before the Court shall be decided in accordance with Sec. 15, paragraph
(1), Article VIII (Judicial Department) of the 1987 Constitution.
Decisions of the Court shall be in writing, stating clearly and
distinctly the facts and the law on which they are based, and signed by
the Justices concurring therein. The Court shall provide for the
publication of its decision in the Official Gazette in such form and
manner as may best be adopted for public information and use. "The
Justices of the Court shall each certify on their applications for
leave, and upon salary vouchers presented by them for payment, or upon
the payrolls under which their salaries are paid, that all proceedings,
petitions and motions which have been submitted to the Court for
determination or decision for a period required by the law or the
Constitution, as the case may be, have been determined or decided by
the Court on or before the date of making the certificate, and no leave
shall be granted and no salary shall be paid without such certificate." Sec. 11. Sec. 18 of the same Act is hereby amended as follows: "Sec.
18. Appeal to the Court of Tax Appeals En Banc. - No civil proceeding
involving matter arising under the National Internal Revenue Code, the
Tariff and Customs Code or the Local Government Code shall be
maintained, except as herein provided, until and unless an appeal has
been previously filed with the CTA and disposed of in accordance with
the provisions of this Act. "A
party adversely affected by a resolution of a Division of the CTA on a
motion for reconsideration or new trial, may file a petition for review
with the CTA en banc." Sec. 12. "Sec. 19. Review by Certiorari. - A party adversely affected by a decision or ruling of the CTA en banc may file with the Supreme Court a verified petition for review on certiorari pursuant to Rule 45 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure."
Sec. 13. Distraint of Personal Property and/or Levy on Real Property. - Upon the issuance of any ruling, order or decision by the CTA favorable to the national government, the CTA shall issue an order authorizing the Bureau of Internal Revenue, through the Commissioner to seize and distraint any goods, chattels, or effects, and the personal property, including stocks and other securities, debts, credits, bank accounts, and interests in and rights to personal property and/or levy the real property of such persons in sufficient quantity to satisfy the tax or charge together with any increment thereto incident to delinquency. This remedy shall not be exclusive and shall not preclude the Court from availing of other means under the Rules of Court. Sec. 14. Retention of Personnel; Security of Tenure; Upgrading of Positions and Salaries. - All existing permanent personnel of the CTA shall not be adversely affected by this Act. They shall continue in office and shall not be removed or separated from the service except for cause as provided for by existing laws. Further, the present positions and salaries of personnel shall be upgraded to the level of their counterparts in the Court of Appeals. Sec. 15. Transitory Provisions. - In consonance with the above provision, the incumbent Presiding Judge and Associate Judges shall comprise a Division pending the constitution of the entire Court. Sec. 16. Appropriations. - The amount necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act shall be included in the General Appropriations Act of the year following its enactment into law and thereafter. Sec. 17. Repealing Clause. - All laws, executive orders, executive issuances or letter of instructions, or any part thereof, inconsistent with or contrary to the provisions of this Act are hereby deemed repealed, amended or modified accordingly. Sec. 18. Separability Clause. - If for any reason, any Sec. or provision of this Act shall be declared unconstitutional or invalid, the other parts thereof not affected thereby shall remain valid. Sec. 19. Effectivity Clause - This Act shall take effect after fifteen
(15) days following its publication in at least (2) newspapers of
general circulation. Approved: March 30 2004 |
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