CIR V Primetown
CIR V Primetown
CIR V Primetown
Issues/Ratio 1. WON the period for filing judicial claims with the CTA has prescribed? (NO)
a. Both Article 13 of the Civil Code and Section 31, Chapter VIII, Book I of the Administrative Code of 1987 deal with
the same subject matter the computation of legal periods. Under the Civil Code, a year is equivalent to 365
days whether it be a regular year or a leap year. Under the Administrative Code of 1987, however, a year is
1 Sec. 229. Recovery of Taxes Erroneously or Illegally Collected. -- No suit or proceeding shall be maintained in any
court for the recovery of any national internal revenue tax hereafter alleged to have been erroneously or illegally
assessed or collected, or of any penalty claimed to have been collected without authority, or of any sum alleged to
have been excessively or in any manner wrongfully collected, until a claim for refund or credit has been duly filed
with the Commissioner; but such suit or proceeding may be maintained, whether or not such tax, penalty, or sum
has been paid under protest or duress.
In any case, no such suit or proceeding shall be filed after the expiration of two (2) years from the date of
payment of the tax or penalty regardless of any supervening cause that may arise after payment: Provided,
however, That the Commissioner may, even without a claim therefor, refund or credit any tax, where on the face of
the return upon which payment was made, such payment appears clearly to have been erroneously paid. (emphasis
supplied)
2 Art. 13. When the law speaks of years, months, days or nights, it shall be understood that years are of three
hundred sixty-five days each; months, of thirty days; days, of twenty-four hours, and nights from sunset to sunrise.
If the months are designated by their name, they shall be computed by the number of days which they respectively
have.
In computing a period, the first day shall be excluded, and the last included. (emphasis supplied)
composed of 12 calendar months. Needless to state, under the Administrative Code of 1987, the number of days
is irrelevant.
b. There obviously exists a manifest incompatibility in the manner of computing legal periods under the Civil Code
and the Administrative Code of 1987. For this reason, we hold that Section 31, Chapter VIII, Book I of the
Administrative Code of 1987, being the more recent law, governs the computation of legal periods. Lex posteriori
derogat priori.
Applying Section 31, Chapter VIII, Book I of the Administrative Code of 1987 to this case, the two-year prescriptive period (reckoned
from the time respondent filed its final adjusted return34 on April 14, 1998) consisted of 24 calendar months, computed as follows:
Year 1 1st calendar month April 15, 1998 to May 14, 1998
Year 2 13th calendar month April 15, 1999 to May 14, 1999
We therefore hold that respondent's petition (filed on April 14, 2000) was filed on the last day of the 24th calendar month from the
day respondent filed its final adjusted return. Hence, it was filed within the reglementary period.