Court orders tax refund to Philex Mining

MANILA, Philippines – The Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) has ordered the refund of over P83.7 million to Philex Mining Corp. over unutilized input value-added tax (VAT) paid for the first three quarters of 2012.

In two separate decisions, the CTA Second and Third Divisions ordered the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to issue tax credit certificates to the mining company after partially granting the two petitions for review that were filed before the tax court in 2014.

In its May 19 decision, the Third Division said Philex is entitled to a P25.8 million tax refund representing unutilized excess input VAT attributable to its zero-rated sales for the first quarter of taxable year 2012.

The Second Division, meanwhile, said in its May 20 ruling that the mining company is also entitled to a refund of P57.9 million for the second and third quarters of 2012.

Philex asked the CTA to order a refund of P129.7 million for the three quarters, alleging it is entitled to such refund due to excess and unutilized input tax.

The amounts were arrived at by the CTA following the examination of an independent accountant of the records submitted by the mining company in connection with its petition for refund.