GRAND Plaza Hotel Corp. said it has filed a motion for reconsideration wit the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA), which dismissed a company petition to review a decision ordering the collection of tax arrears from the company.
“[T]he CTA has jurisdiction to review collection proceedings initiated by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue… pursuant to its powers under Section 7(A)(1) of the National Internal Revenue Code,” the listed company said in its motion.
On July 6, 2018, the CTA dismissed the petition for review filed on Feb. 20, 2015 by of the hotel company as it ruled that it had no jurisdiction to entertain that filing because the assessment had become final, executory, and demandable.
Grand Plaza also said in its motion for reconsideration that the tax deficiency assessment of the tax commissioner is “void for failure to indicate a due date for payment and thus, the absence of a protest does not render the assessment final and executory because no rights can emanate from a void assessment.”
The company, which owns The Heritage Hotel Manila, said it does not believe that its motion will have any significant impact on its business operations and financial position. Its main source of income is its revenue from the hotel operations.
Grand Plaza received on July 9, 2018 the decision rendered by the tax court in CTA Case No. 8992 dismissing the petition for review in which the company asked that the tax deficiency assessment amounting to P508,101,387.12 for fiscal year 2008 be declared null and void, and be cancelled in toto.
The petition is based on the corporation’s position, as advised by its tax counsel, that the collection proceedings initiated by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue is void because the assessments did not comply with the requirements under the law, and lacked factual and legal basis.
Grand Plaza is 54%-owned by The Philippine Fund Ltd. — Victor V. Saulon
