The injunctive relief is not available as a remedy to assail the collection of a tax.

The Supreme Court held that the RTC acted without jurisdiction and grossly erred in giving due course to the petition for declaratory relief, and in ultimately deciding to permanently enjoin the enforcement of the specified provisions of the NIRC against the respondent.

Section 218 of the NIRC expressly provides that “no court shall have the authority to grant an injunction to restrain the collection of any national internal revenue tax, fee or charge imposed by the NIRC.”

Also, pursuant to Section 11 of R.A. No. 1125, as amended, the decisions or rulings of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, among others, assessing any tax or levying or distraining or selling any property of taxpayers for the satisfaction of their tax liabilities are immediately executory, and their enforcement is not to be suspended by any appeals thereof to the Court of Tax Appeals, unless “in the opinion of the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) the collection by the Bureau of Internal Revenue or the Commissioner of Customs may jeopardize the interest of the Government and/or the taxpayer” in which case the Court of Tax Appeals “at any stage of the proceeding may suspend the said collection and require the taxpayer either to deposit the amount claimed or to file a surety bond for not more than double the amount.”

Commissioner of Internal Revenue vs. Standard Insurance Co., Inc.

G.R. No. 219340, 07 November 2018