December 26, 1963
Ponente: Regala, J.
FACTS
At the end of WWII, Surigao Consolidated filed a statement of adjustment claiming for refund in the amount of P17,051.14, which it had paid as ad valorem taxes during the war.
The company argued that since Section 1(d) of R.A. 81 condoned the taxes due from taxpayers who failed to pay their taxes during the war, it would be unfair to deny this benefit to those taxpayers like itself who had been prompt in paying their taxes despite the prevailing conditions at the time.
The CIR and CTA denied the claim for refund.
RULING
Section 1(d) of R.A. 81 clearly refers to the condonation of unpaid taxes only. The condonation of a tax liability is equivalent and is in the nature of a tax exemption. Being so, it should be sustained only when expressed in explicit terms, and it cannot be extended beyond the plain meaning of those terms.
It is the universal rule that he who claims an exemption from his share of the common burden of taxation must justify his claim by showing that the Legislature intended to exempt him by words too plain to be mistaken.
In the present case, Surigao Consolidated failed to point any portion of of the law that explicitly provides for a refund of those taxpayers who had paid their taxes on the items and under circumstances mentioned in the subject provision.
