A FORMER prisons caterer evaded prosecution for alleged tax evasion after the government failed to institute the necessary criminal case within the five-year prescription period.
In a seven-page decision, the Court of Tax Appeals’ (CTA) Second Division dismissed the criminal case for tax evasion filed against Ziegfried Loo Tian on the ground of prescription.
The CTA held that the former contractor of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) for food services could no longer be prosecuted as Section 281 of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) provides that all violations of any of its provisions “shall prescribe after five years.”
“Jurisprudence has it that the waiver or loss of the right to prosecute the offender is automatic and by operation of law. Evidently, in this case, prescription has automatically set in when the plaintiff failed to file the present information within the five year prescriptive period provided under Section 281 of the NIRC of 1997, as amended,” the CTA declared.
Based on the records of the case, the Bureau of Internal Revenue referred the joint complaint affidavit of its revenue officers to the Department of Justice for preliminary investigation on July 5, 2012, the date when the violation of the law was discovered and the institution of judicial proceedings for its investigation and punishment.
Thus, the CTA said, the BIR only had five years from then, or until July 5, 2015, within which to file the information with the court.
However, the CTA said the information was filed before it only on October 25, 2022.
“The present information, while dated September 1, 2014, was filed with the Court only on October 25, 2022. Thus, the right of the government to institute the case against Ziegfried Loo Tian had already prescribed when the information was filed on October 26, 2022, thus justifying the dismissal of the present case,” the CTA said.
The BIR accused Ziegfried of providing inaccurate information in his quarterly value-added tax return for the first quarter of 2010 to the damage and prejudice of the government in the amount of P3.17 million.
Tian is the sole proprietor of Golden Taste Food Services and General Merchandising (Golden Taste) which was contracted by the BuCor for catering services from August 17, 2010 to January16, 2012 for inmates at the Medium and Minimum Security Compounds of the National Bilibid Prisons (NBP) in Muntinlupa City, the Correctional Institution for Women In Mandaluyong City and Davao, Reception and Diagnostic Center, Muntinlupa Juvenile and Training Center.