UNDER the Rules of Court, civil action deemed instituted with a criminal action is only the action to recover civil liability arising from the crime. In a criminal action for tax evasion, such as those filed pursuant to Sections 254 and 255 of the Tax Code, the accused's liability to pay the unpaid tax is not deemed instituted in the action.

Jurisprudence has settled that the liability to pay tax is one that arises from law and not from the offense of tax evasion. A tax evasion case filed by the state against a taxpayer has for its purpose the imposition of criminal liability.