GR 42669; (January, 1938) (Digest)
G.R. No. 42669 ; January 29, 1938
Estate of the deceased JUAN DE LA VIÑA, plaintiff-appellee, vs. GOVERNMENT OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, claimant-appellant.
FACTS
In the estate proceedings of Juan de la Viña, the Collector of Internal Revenue filed a claim for unpaid income taxes for the years 1919, 1920, 1923, 1924, 1926, 1928, 1929, 1930, and 1931. The probate court ordered payment only for the taxes for 1926, 1928, 1929, 1930, and 1931, holding that the government’s right to collect for the earlier years (1919, 1920, 1923, 1924) had prescribed under the six-year statute of limitations in the Code of Civil Procedure. The government appealed, arguing that prescription does not run against the state in tax collection cases.
ISSUE
Whether the statute of limitations (prescription) applies to bar the government’s judicial action to collect unpaid income taxes.
RULING
No. The Supreme Court ruled that the government’s action to collect taxes through the courts is imprescriptible (does not prescribe). The Court affirmed the established doctrine, based on public policy, that statutes of limitations do not run against the state unless expressly provided by law. This principle applies to the Philippine Government. The three-year period under Section 9(a) of Act No. 2833 refers to the assessment and summary collection of taxes by the Collector, not to judicial collection. Therefore, the government’s claim for all unpaid taxes, including those for 1919, 1920, 1923, and 1924, was valid. The appealed decision was modified to order the estate to pay the back taxes for those years.
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