Gr No. 169234

Legal Maxim: Verba legis non est recedendum

Republic of the Philippines

SUPREME COURT

Manila

SECOND DIVISION

G.R. No. 169234               October 2, 2013

CAMP JOHN HAY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, Petitioner, 

vs.

CENTRAL BOARD OF ASSESSMENT APPEALS, REPRESENTED BY ITS CHAIRMAN HON. CESAR S. GUTIERREZ, ADELINA A. TABANGIN, IN HER CAPACITY AS CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF TAX (ASSESSMENT) APPEALS OF BAGUIO CITY, AND HON. ESTRELLA B. TANO, IN HER CAPACITY AS THE CITY ASSESSOR OF THE CITY OF BAGUIO,Respondents.

D E C I S I O N

PEREZ, J.:

A claim for tax exemption, whether full or partial, does not deal with the authority of local assessor to assess real property tax. Such claim questions the correctness of the assessment and compliance with the Q applicable provisions of Republic Act (RA) No. 7160 or the Local Government Code (LGC) of 1991, particularly as to requirement of payment under protest, is mandatory.

Before the Court is a Petition for Review on Certiorari seeking tore verse and set aside the 27 July 2005 Decision1 of the Court of Tax Appeals(CTA) En Banc in C.T.A. E.B. No. 48 which affirmed the Resolutions dated 23 May 2003 and 8 September 2004 issued by the Central Board of Assessment Appeals (CBAA) in CBAA Case No. L-37 remanding the case to the Local Board of Assessment Appeals (LBAA) of Baguio City for further proceedings.

The facts

The factual antecedents of the case as found by the CTA En Banc areas follows:

In a letter dated 21 March 2002, respondent City Assessor of Baguio City notified petitioner Camp John Hay Development Corporation about the issuance against it of thirty-six (36) Owner’s Copy of Assessment of Real Property (ARP), with ARP Nos. 01-07040-008887 to 01-07040-008922covering various buildings of petitioner and two (2) parcels of land owned by the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) in the John Hay Special Economic Zone (JHSEZ), Baguio City, which were leased out to petitioner.

In response, petitioner questioned the...