Manila, Feb. 5 -- The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday clarified the prescriptive periods for filing value-added tax (VAT) refund claims with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (CIR).

In a decision by the tribunal's Third Division, the SC ruled that for VAT refund claims filed before June 11, 2014, the 120-day period for the BIR to resolve the claim begins when the taxpayer determines that its submission of documents is complete.

The case involved Dohle Shipmanagement Philippines Corporation (Dohle), which sought a refund or credit of unutilized input VAT for 2012.

Dohle filed its administrative claim with the BIR on March 31, 2014, and submitted additional supporting documents on July 28, 2014.

Section 112 of the 1997 Tax Code states that...