Perfecto vs.

Meer

Facts:

(a) April 1947: Collector of Internal Revenue required Mr. Justice Gregorio
Perfecto to pay income tax for his salary of being a member of the court
during 1946
(b) Justice Perfecto paid the P802.00 but contested in court that the collection
of tax was illegal because it is in violation of the Constitution
(c) Article VIII, Section 9 of the 1935 Constitution provides that “shall receive
such compensation as may fixed by law, which shall not be diminished
during their continuance in office.”
(d) It also provides that “until Congress shall provide otherwise, the Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court shall receive an annual compensation of
P16,000.00

Issue:

(a) Whether or not the imposition of an income tax upon the salary of Justice
Perfecto in 1946 amounts to a diminution

Ruling:

(a) Yes. The imposition of an income tax upon the salary if Justice Perfecto in
1946 amounts to a diminution.
(b) Unless and until our Legislative approves an amendment to the Income
Tax Law expressly taxing “that salaries of judges thereafter appointed”
(c) When the Income Tax Law was applied in the Philippines in 1913, the
taxable income did not include salaries of judicial officers when these are
protected by diminution
(d) Philippine Constitutional Convention approved the prohibition against
diminution