G.R. No. 78780 July 23 1987 [Salaries of the members of Judiciary, Tax Exemption]
FACTS:
Nitafan and some others, duly qualified and appointed judges
of the RTC, NCR, all with stations in Manila, seek to prohibit and/or
perpetually enjoin the Commissioner of Internal Revenue and the Financial
Officer of the Supreme Court, from making any deduction of withholding taxes
from their salaries.
They submit that "any tax withheld from their
emoluments or compensation as judicial officers constitutes a decrease or
diminution of their salaries, contrary to the provision of Section 10, Article
VIII of the 1987 Constitution mandating that during their continuance in
office, their salary shall not be decreased," even as it is anathema to
the Ideal of an independent judiciary envisioned in and by said
Constitution."
ISSUE: Whether or not members of the Judiciary are exempt from
income taxes.
HELD:
No. The salaries of members of the Judiciary are
subject to the general income tax applied to all taxpayers. Although such intent
was somehow and inadvertently not clearly set forth in the final text of the
1987 Constitution, the deliberations of the1986 Constitutional Commission
negate the contention that the intent of the framers is to revert to the
original concept of non-diminution´ of salaries of judicial officers. Justices and judges are not only the citizens whose income has been reduced in
accepting service in government and yet subject to income tax. Such is true
also of Cabinet members and all other employees.
