CTA consolidates tax cases vs Corona

MANILA, Philippines - The Court of Tax Appeals’ first and third divisions have allowed the consolidation of the 12 counts of tax evasion charges filed against former chief justice Renato Corona.

The two divisions issued separate resolutions earlier this month that granted Corona’s motion, subject to the conformity of the second division which handles seven of the twelve counts of charges.

Three cases were raffled off to the first division, while the remaining two went to the third division. The cases will be consolidated in the second division as it handles the case bearing the lowest docket number.

In view of the resolution, the first division suspended the scheduled arraignment of Corona yesterday on the three counts of tax evasion.

The second division earlier set the arraignment of the former magistrate on Aug. 27.

The second division, presided over by Associate Justice Juanito Castañeda Jr., deferred the arraignment on June 4 due to a pending motion to quash filed by the former chief justice. The motion has yet to be resolved.

“Our grounds is that the allegations in the information do not constitute an offense,” defense counsel Reody Anthony Balisi told reporters following the hearing. “We actually also argued on the prescription issue. We will just expand and further support our arguments with those,” he added.

The case stemmed from the results of the investigation of prosecutors of the Department of Justice, which found probable cause to charge Corona with violation of sections 254 and 255 of the National Internal Revenue Code before the CTA for allegedly failing to pay taxes amounting to P120.5 million.

The tax cases – recommended in a 65-page resolution dated April 26, 2013 – were based on the complaint filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), which accused Corona of committing the crime of tax evasion and willful failure to file his income tax return for the years 2003 to 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2010.

The BIR said the alleged criminal acts also made him civilly liable to the state in the amount of almost P120.5 million, inclusive of surcharges and interest.

It said Corona earned income from other sources aside from his compensation as a public official, which is contrary to his registration with the BIR as a “pure compensation income earner.”

In his defense, Corona argued the period of filing of criminal charges for the years 2002 to 2007 has already prescribed, and that the evidence presented by the BIR – particularly his bank deposits – are inadmissible as the waiver he executed has already expired following the conclusion of the impeachment trial.

The waiver, executed during the impeachment trial at the Senate, authorized appropriate authorities to inspect his bank accounts.