IN Commissioner of Internal Revenue v Toledo Power Corp. (GR 259309, Feb. 13, 2023) (the Toledo Case), the Supreme Court overturned the findings of the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) both in division and en banc, and held that payments voluntarily made by a taxpayer in the course of a tax assessment cannot later be refunded in favor of the taxpayer.

In the Toledo Case, the taxpayer was initially assessed for various internal revenue taxes, including alleged deficiency income tax and value-added tax (VAT) for the year 2011. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) issued a preliminary assessment notice to the taxpayer. After receiving the preliminary assessment notice, the taxpayer voluntarily paid the VAT portion of the assessment, along with the accrued interests. Subsequently, no new notices or correspondences were issued by the BIR to the taxpayer. There was also no mention on whether the tax investigation and other portions of the assessment were terminated.