PETRON CORPORATION v. MAYOR TOBIAS M. TIANGCO and
MUNICIPAL TREASURER MANUEL T. ENRIQUEZ of the
MUNIPALITY OF NAVOTAS, METRO MANILA

G.R. 158881, 16 April 2006, Second Division, (Tinga, J.)

While local government units are authorized to burden all such other class of goods with “taxes, fees and charges,” excepting excise taxes, a specific prohibition is imposed barring the levying of any other type of taxes with respect to petroleum products.

In accordance to the New Navotas Revenue Code or Ordinance 92-03, petitioner Petron Corporation was assessed a total tax of P6,259,087.62. Petron filed a letter protest arguing that it is exempt from paying local business taxes as provided by Article 232 (h) of the Implementing Rules of the Local Government Code.

The letter-protest was denied. A Complaint for Cancellation of Assessment was filed before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Malabon. The RTC dismissed the Complaint and required Petron to pay the assessed tax. A Motion for Reconsideration was filed but it was later denied by the court. Hence, the filing of this petition.

ISSUE:
Whether or not a local government unit is empowered under the Local Government Code (LGC) to impose business taxes on persons or entities engaged in the sale of petroleum

HELD:

Petition GRANTED.

Section 133(h) of the LGC reads as follows:

Sec. 133. Common Limitations on the Taxing Powers of Local Government Units. - Unless otherwise provided herein, the exercise of the taxing powers of provinces, cities, municipalities, and Barangays shall not extend to the levy of the following:

xxx

(h) Excise taxes on articles enumerated under the National Internal Revenue Code, as amended, and taxes, fees or charges on petroleum products;

Evidently, Section 133 prescribes the limitations on the capacity of local government units to exercise their taxing powers otherwise granted to them under the LGC. Apparently, paragraph (h) of the Section mentions two kinds of taxes which cannot be imposed by local government units, namely: “excise taxes on articles enumerated under the National Internal Revenue Code [(NIRC)], as amended;” and “taxes, fees or charges on petroleum products.”

The power of a municipality to impose business taxes is provided for in Section 143 of the LGC. Under the provision, a municipality is authorized to impose business taxes on a whole host of business activities. Suffice it to say, unless there is another provision of law which states otherwise, Section 143, broad in scope as it is, would undoubtedly cover the business of selling diesel fuels, or any other petroleum product for that matter.

Section 133(h) provides two kinds of taxes which cannot be imposed by local government units: “excise taxes on articles enumerated” under the NIRC, as amended; and “taxes, fees or charges on petroleum products.” There is no doubt that among the excise taxes on articles enumerated under the NIRC are those levied on petroleum products, per Section 148 of the NIRC.

The power of a municipality to impose business taxes derives from Section 143 of the Code that specifically enumerates several types of business on which it may impose taxes, including manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, dealers of any article of commerce of whatever nature; those engaged in the export or commerce of essential commodities; retailers; contractors and other independent contractors; banks and financial institutions; and peddlers engaged in the sale of any merchandise or article of commerce. This obviously broad power is further supplemented by paragraph (h) of Section 143 which authorizes the sanggunian to impose taxes on any other businesses not otherwise specified under Section 143 which the sanggunian concerned may deem proper to tax.

This ability of local government units to impose business or other local taxes is ultimately rooted in the 1987 Constitution. Section 5, Article X assures that “[e]ach local government unit shall have the power to create its own sources of revenues and to levy taxes, fees and charges,” though the power is “subject to such guidelines and limitations as the Congress may provide.” There is no doubt that following the 1987 Constitution and the Code, the fiscal autonomy of local government units has received greater affirmation than ever. Previous decisions that have been skeptical of the viability, if not the wisdom of reposing fiscal autonomy to local government units have fallen by the wayside.

Section 5(a) of the Code states that “[a]ny provision on a power of a local government unit shall be liberally interpreted in its favor, and in case of doubt, any question thereon shall be resolved in favor of devolution of powers and of the lower local government unit.” But somewhat conversely, Section 5(b) then proceeds to assert that “[i]n case of doubt, any tax ordinance or revenue measure shall be construed strictly against the local government unit enacting it, and liberally in favor of the taxpayer.” And this latter qualification has to be respected as a constitutionally authorized limitation which Congress has seen fit to provide. Evidently, local fiscal autonomy should not necessarily translate into abject deference to the power of local government units to impose taxes.

Section 133(h) states that local government units “shall not extend to the levy of xxx taxes, fees or charges on petroleum products.” Respondents assert that the phrase “taxes, fees or charges on petroleum products” pertains to the imposition of direct or excise taxes on petroleum products, and not business taxes. If the phrase actually pertains to excise taxes, then it would be an exercise in utter redundancy, since the preceding phrase already prohibits the imposition of excise taxes on articles already subject to such taxes under the NIRC, such as petroleum products. There would be no sense on the part of the legislature to twice emphasize in the same sentence that excise taxes on petroleum products are beyond the pale of local government taxation.

The Court concedes that a tax on a business is distinct from a tax on the article itself, or for that matter, that a business tax is distinct from an excise tax. However, such distinction is immaterial insofar as the latter part of Section 133(h) is concerned, for the phrase “taxes, fees or charges on petroleum products” does not qualify the kind of taxes, fees or charges that could withstand the absolute prohibition imposed by the provision. It would have been a different matter had Congress, in crafting Section 133(h), barred “excise taxes” or “direct taxes,” or any category of taxes only, for then it would be understood that only such specified taxes on petroleum products could not be imposed under the prohibition. The absence of such a qualification leads to the conclusion that all sorts of taxes on petroleum products, including business taxes, are prohibited by Section 133(h). Where the law does not distinguish, we should not distinguish.

The language of Section 133(h) makes plain that the prohibition with respect to petroleum products extends not only to excise taxes thereon, but all “taxes, fees and charges.” The earlier reference in paragraph (h) to excise taxes comprehends a wider range of subjects of taxation: all articles already covered by excise taxation under the NIRC, such as alcohol products, tobacco products, mineral products, automobiles, and such non-essential goods as jewelry, goods made of precious metals, perfumes, and yachts and other vessels intended for pleasure or sports. In contrast, the later reference to “taxes, fees and charges” pertains only to one class of articles of the many subjects of excise taxes, specifically, “petroleum products”. While local government units are authorized to burden all such other class of goods with “taxes, fees and charges,” excepting excise taxes, a specific prohibition is imposed barring the levying of any other type of taxes with respect to petroleum products.