EXPRESS AND IMPLIED REPEAL

COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE vs. PRIMETOWNG. R. No. 162155August 28, 2007

Facts:On April 14, 2000, the Taxpayer filed its petition for review claiming refund based on its final adjusted return filed on April 14, 1998, Counting 365 days a year pursuant to Article 13 of the Civil Code, the CTA found that the petition was filed beyond the two year respective period equivalent to 730 days for filing the claim under Section 229 of the NIRC, ruling that the petition was filed 731 days after the filing of the return.On Appeal, the CA reversed the CTA and ruled that Article 13 of the Civil Code did not distinguish between a regular year and a leap year.

Issue:Whether or not the Court of Appeals erred in reversing the CTA.

Ruling:The SC affirmed the CA's reversal but ruled that the basis for the reversal is EO 292 of the Administrative Code of 1987, a more recent law, which provides that a year is composed of 12 calendar months.

Section 31 provides that a year shall be understood to be 12 calendar months. Both article 13 of the Civil Code and Section 31 of the Administrative Code of 1987 deal with the same subject matter the computation of legal periods. Under the Civil Code, a year is equivalent to 365 days whether it be a regular year or a leap year. Under the Administrative Code of 1987, however, a year is composed of 12 calendar months and the number of days is irrelevant. There obviously exists a manifest incompatibility in the manner of computing legal periods under the Civil Code and the Administrative Code of 1987. For this reason, the Supreme Court held that Section 31, Chapter VIII, Book I of the Administrative Code of 1987, being the more recent law, governs the computation of legal periods.

Using this, the petition was filed on the last day of the 24th month from the day the taxpayer filed its final adjusted return.