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or
not
petitioners
right
to
assess
has
prescribed.
Held: Applying then Sec. 331, NIRC (now Sec. 203, 1997 NIRC which provides a 3-year prescriptive
period for making assessments), it is clean that the October 16, 1980 and March 16, 1981 assessments
were issued by the BIR beyond the 5-year statute of limitations. The court thoroughly studied the records
of this case and found no basis to disregard the 5-year period of prescription, expressly set under Sec.
331
of the
Tax Code,
the
law
then
in
force.
For the purpose of safeguarding taxpayers from any unreasonable examination, investigation or
assessment, our tax law provides a statute of limitations in the collection of taxes. Thus, the law or
prescription, being a remedial measure, should be liberally construed in order to afford such protection.
As a corollary, the exceptions to the law on prescription should perforce be strictly construed.