Collector v.

Fisher, 1 SCRA 93
Facts: Stevenson is a resident of California, U.S.A. He had real and personal
properties [shares of stock in 2 Philippine corporations and cash in bank] in the
Philippines. He died in the U.S. leaving his wife Beatrice as his sole heiress.
Ancillary administration proceedings were instituted in Manila for the settlement
of the estate. Beatrice assigned all her rights to her husbands estate to the Fishers.
The Fishers claim exemption from the payment of estate and inheritance taxes on
the Philippine corporation shares of stock owned by the estate of Stevenson. The
basis of the Fishers claim is the reciprocity proviso of sec 122 of the NIRC. CIR
denied the claim. The CTA allowed the claim hence this petition.
Issue: Whether or not the estate can avail itself of the reciprocity?
Held: No, the estate cannot avail of the reciprocity Sec 22 of the NIRC does not
apply. Under sec 122 of the Tax Code and sec 13851 of the California Inheritance
Tax Law, the reciprocity must be total, that is with respect to transfer or death
taxes of any and every character, in the case of the Philippine law, and to legacy,
succession, or death taxes of any and every character, in the case of the California
law. Therefore, if any of the two states collects or imposes and does not exempt
any transfer, death, legacy, or succession tax of any character, the reciprocity does
not work. The shares of stock in the Philippines, left by a deceased resident of
California, are subject to the Philippine inheritance tax. The reciprocity provisions
of sec 122 of the tax code are not applicable because there is no total reciprocity
under the two laws.
The legal obligation on the executor, administrator or any of the legal heirs, to
inform respondent CIR of the decedents death under Section 104 of the 1977 NIRC
pertains only to all cases of transfer subject to tax or where the gross value of the
estate exceeds P3,000. It has absolutely no applicability to a case for deficiency of
income tax.
When an estate is under administration, notice must be sent to the administrator
of the estate, since it is the said administrator, as representative of the estate, who has
the legal obligation to pay and discharge all debts of the estate and to perform all
orders of the court