(Eagle News)—-The Court of Tax Appeals has denied the plea of Rappler Holdings Corp. and executive editor Maria Ressa for the charges of tax evasion to be junked against them.
In junking their plea, the First Division ruled the four amended information against them accomplished their purpose.
“The Supreme Court has ruled that an Information need only to state the ultimate facts constituting the offense and not the finer details of why and how the crime was committed,” the court said.
The court also junked Ressa camp’s argument the trial should not push through as they had a pending motion for reconsideration before the Department of Justice.
The court said the resolution of Assistant State Prosecutor Zenamar Machacon Caparros denying such motion for reconsideration had already been submitted.
The administrative case filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue against the accused on the other hand “should not be a bar to the institution of the criminal proceedings before this Court as it is well-settled that an assessment is not necessary before a criminal charge for tax evasion may be instituted,” the court said.
The court’s decision, which came after Ressa posted bail for the cyber libel charges filed against her by businessman Wilfredo Keng, effectively paves the way for a full-blown trial.
The court set the case for pre-trial on March 13 at 8:30 a.m.
The Department of Justice filed the four tax cases against Rappler before the CTA in November 2018.
A fifth tax fraud case was filed separately before the Pasig Regional Trial Court.
