Court grants Sereno's petition to junk tax liabilities

The Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) has granted the petition of former chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno seeking to nullify the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)'s assessment of her supposed tax liabilities from 2011 to 2016 amounting to P8.8 million.

- ELIZABETH MARCELO

In a 45-page decision promulgated on May 14, the CTA's Special Second Division granted the petition for review filed by Sereno assailing the validity of an undated Final Decision on Disputed Assessment (FDDA) and a Formal Letter of Demand (FLD) dated Nov. 5, 2018 with an accompanying Final Assessment Notice (FAN) issued against her by the BIR.

In the FDDA and FLD/FAN, the BIR said Sereno had P8,846,769.12 in unpaid income tax, inclusive of surcharges and interests for taxable years 2011 to 2016.

The CTA said the BIR violated Sereno's right to due process when it issued the FLD/FAN, demanding that the then chief justice pay her supposed tax liabilities, without informing her of how it arrived with its tax assessment.