THE Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) has stood by its decision denying CBK Power Co. Ltd.’s refund claim worth P35.6 million allegedly representing its excess value-added tax (VAT) for the second to fourth quarters of 2017.
In a 24-page decision dated June 29 and made public on June 30, the CTA Special Second Division said the firm failed to prove its compliance with the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001’s requirements for claiming a tax refund.
“From the foregoing, for petitioner’s (CBK Power) utter failure to substantiate the alleged zero-rated sales, it cannot claim the input taxes attributable thereto,” according to the ruling penned by Associate Justice Jean Marie A. Bacorro-Villena.
“Petitioner failed to proffer as evidence the original certificates of compliances, if any which would have been relevant to the subject period of the claim,” the tax court said.
CBK Power finances, maintains, and operates a pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant in Laguna.
The tribunal said the operator failed to provide original copies of the certificates of compliance from the Energy Regulatory Commission to provide its entitlement to zero-rated sales.
Under the Tax Code, registered taxpayers are entitled to zero-rated sales that do not translate to any output tax. The term “zero-rated sale” must be written on the firm’s official invoices.
“To put it differently, there is then nothing in the records that could ably show that when the petitioner sold electricity generated through hydropower to National Power Corporation.” — John Victor D. Ordoñez
