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BLOOMBERRY RESORTS v. BIR
BLOOMBERRY RESORTS v. BIR
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* THIRD DIVISION.
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PEREZ, J.:
The Facts
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own and operate Solaire Resort & Casino. Thus, being one
of its licensees, petitioner only pays PAGCOR license fees,
in lieu of all taxes, as contained in its provisional license
and consistent with the PAGCOR Char-
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The Issues
Our Ruling
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12 „AN ACT CREATING THE COURT OF TAX APPEALS‰ which took effect on
16 June 1954.
13 „AN ACT EXPANDING THE JURISDICTION OF THE COURT OF TAX APPEALS
(CTA), ELEVATING ITS RANK TO THE LEVEL OF A COLLEGIATE COURT WITH
OTHER PURPOSES‰ which took effect on 23 April 2004. This Act was a
consolidation of S. No. 2712 and H. No. 6673 finally passed by the Senate
and the House of Representatives on 8 December 2003 and 2 February
2004, respectively.
14 Asia International Auctioneers, Inc. v. Parayno, Jr., supra note 9 at
pp. 270-271; p. 552.
15 G.R. No. 210987, 24 November 2014, 741 SCRA 578.
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SECTION 13. Exemptions.·
xxxx
(2) Income and other taxes.·(a) Franchise Holder: No
tax of any kind or form, income or otherwise, as well as
fees, charges or levies of whatever nature, whether
National or Local, shall be assessed and collected
under this Franchise from the Corporation; nor shall
any form of tax or charge attach in any way to the
earnings of the Corporation, except a Franchise Tax of
five (5%) percent of the gross revenue or earnings
derived by the Corporation from its operation under
this Franchise. Such tax shall be due and payable quarterly
to the National Government and shall be in lieu of all kinds of
taxes, levies, fees or assessments of any kind, nature or
description, levied, established or collected by any municipal,
provincial, or national government authority.
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Revenue
Furthermore,
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Sec. 13. Exemptions.·
xxxx
Income and other taxes.·(a) Franchise Holder: No
(2)
tax of any kind or form, income or otherwise, as well as fees,
charges or levies of whatever nature, whether National or
Local, shall be assessed and collected under this Franchise
from the Corporation; nor shall any form of tax or charge
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22 Id., at p. 731.
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operation of casinos.
For the same reasons that made us conclude in the 10
December 2014 Decision of the Court sitting En Banc in
G.R. No. 215427 that PAGCOR is subject to corporate
income tax for „other related services,‰ we find it logical
that its contractees and licensees shall likewise pay
corporate income tax for income derived from such „related
services.‰
Simply then, in this case, we adhere to the principle that
since the statute is clear and free from ambiguity, it must
be given its literal meaning and applied without attempted
interpretation. This is the plain meaning rule or verba
legis, as expressed in the maxim index animi sermo or
speech is the index of intention.24
Plainly, too, upon payment of the 5% franchise tax,
petitionerÊs income from its gaming operations of gambling
casinos, gaming clubs and other similar recreation or
amusement places, and gaming pools, defined within the
purview of the aforesaid section, is not subject to corporate
income tax.
WHEREFORE, the petition is GRANTED. Accordingly,
respondent Bureau of Internal Revenue, represented by
Commissioner Kim S. Jacinto-Henares is hereby
ORDERED to
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24 Padua v. People, 581 Phil. 488, 501; 559 SCRA 519, 531 (2008).
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SO ORDERED.
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