Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 67 views

    (CD) MERALCO vs. CBAA - G.R. No. L-46245 - May 31, 1982 - Internet

    Uploaded by

    Amiel Gian Mario Zapanta
    The Supreme Court ruled that Meralco Securities' pipeline system running from Batangas to Manila was subject to real property tax. The pipeline consisted of steel pipes buried at least one meter underground along public highways and riverbeds, with the pipes welded together and to valves to form a single unit. As the pipes were permanently attached to the land in a fixed manner and could not be removed without being cut or the material deteriorating, the Court found they met the definition of real property under the Assessment Law and Civil Code. Therefore, the provincial assessor correctly treated the pipeline as real property subject to realty tax.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    (CD) MERALCO vs. CBAA - G.R. No. L-46245 - May 31, 1982 - Internet

    Uploaded by

    Amiel Gian Mario Zapanta
    67 views2 pages
    The Supreme Court ruled that Meralco Securities' pipeline system running from Batangas to Manila was subject to real property tax. The pipeline consisted of steel pipes buried at least one meter underground along public highways and riverbeds, with the pipes welded together and to valves to form a single unit. As the pipes were permanently attached to the land in a fixed manner and could not be removed without being cut or the material deteriorating, the Court found they met the definition of real property under the Assessment Law and Civil Code. Therefore, the provincial assessor correctly treated the pipeline as real property subject to realty tax.

    Original Title

    [CD] MERALCO vs. CBAA - G.R. No. L-46245 - May 31, 1982 - Internet

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    The Supreme Court ruled that Meralco Securities' pipeline system running from Batangas to Manila was subject to real property tax. The pipeline consisted of steel pipes buried at least one meter underground along public highways and riverbeds, with the pipes welded together and to valves to form a single unit. As the pipes were permanently attached to the land in a fixed manner and could not be removed without being cut or the material deteriorating, the Court found they met the definition of real property under the Assessment Law and Civil Code. Therefore, the provincial assessor correctly treated the pipeline as real property subject to realty tax.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    67 views2 pages

    (CD) MERALCO vs. CBAA - G.R. No. L-46245 - May 31, 1982 - Internet

    Uploaded by

    Amiel Gian Mario Zapanta
    The Supreme Court ruled that Meralco Securities' pipeline system running from Batangas to Manila was subject to real property tax. The pipeline consisted of steel pipes buried at least one meter underground along public highways and riverbeds, with the pipes welded together and to valves to form a single unit. As the pipes were permanently attached to the land in a fixed manner and could not be removed without being cut or the material deteriorating, the Court found they met the definition of real property under the Assessment Law and Civil Code. Therefore, the provincial assessor correctly treated the pipeline as real property subject to realty tax.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    MERALCO SECURITIES INDUSTRIAL CORPORATION, petitioner, vs.

    CENTRAL
    BOARD OF ASSESSMENT APPEALS, BOARD OF ASSESSMENT APPEALS OF
    LAGUNA and PROVINCIAL ASSESSOR OF LAGUNA, respondents.

    G.R. No. L-46245, May 31, 1982

    FACTS

    Pursuant to a pipeline concession issued under the Petroleum Act of 1949, Republic Act No. 387,
    Meralco Securities installed from Batangas to Manila a pipeline system consisting of cylindrical
    steel pipes joined together and buried not less than one meter below the surface along the
    shoulder of the public highway. The pipes are embedded in the soil and are firmly and solidly
    welded together so as to preclude breakage or damage thereto and prevent leakage or seepage of
    the oil. The valves are welded to the pipes so as to make the pipeline system one single piece of
    property from end to end.

    In order to repair, replace, remove or transfer segments of the pipeline, the pipes have to be cold-
    cut by means of a rotary hard-metal pipe-cutter after digging or excavating them out of the
    ground where they are buried. In points where the pipeline traversed rivers or creeks, the pipes
    were laid beneath the bed thereof. Hence, the pipes are permanently attached to the land.

    Pursuant to the Assessment Law, Commonwealth Act No. 470, the provincial assessor of Laguna
    treated the pipeline as real property and issued tax declarations, containing the assessed values of
    portions of the pipeline.

    Meralco appealed the assessments to the defendants, but the latter ruled that pipeline is subject to
    realty tax. The defendants argued that the pipeline is subject to realty tax because they are
    contemplated in Assessment Law and Real Property Tax Code; that they do not fall within the
    category of property exempt from realty tax under those laws; that Articles 415 & 416 of the
    Civil Code, defining real and personal property have no applications to this case because these
    pipes are constructions adhered to soil and things attached to the land in a fixed manner, and that
    Meralco Securities is not exempt from realty tax under petroleum law.

    Meralco insists that its pipeline is not subject to realty tax because it is not real property within
    the meaning of Art. 415.

    ISSUE

    Whether or not the aforementioned pipelines are subject to realty tax?

    RULING

    Yes, the pipelines are subject to realty tax.


    Section 2 of the Assessment Law provides that the realty tax is due “on real property, including
    land, buildings, machinery, and other improvements.” This provision is reproduced with some
    modification in Section 38, Real Property Tax Code, which provides that “there shall be levied,
    assessed, and collected xxx annual ad valorem tax on real property such as land, buildings,
    machinery, and other improvements affixed or attached to real property xxx.”

    It is incontestable that the pipeline of Meralco Securities does not fall within any of the classes of
    exempt real property enumerated in section 3 of the Assessment Law and section 40 of the Real
    Property Tax Code.

    Pipeline means a line of pipe connected to pumps, valves and control devices for conveying
    liquids, gases or finely divided solids. It is a line of pipe running upon or in the earth, carrying
    with it the right to the use of the soil in which it is placed.

    Article 415[l] and [3] provides that real property may consist of constructions of all kinds
    adhered to the soil and everything attached to an immovable in a fixed manner, in such a way
    that it cannot be separated therefrom without breaking the material or deterioration of the object.

    The pipeline system in question is indubitably a construction adhering to the soil. It is attached to
    the land in such a way that it cannot be separated therefrom without dismantling the steel pipes
    which were welded to form the pipeline.

    WHEREFORE, the questioned decision and resolution are affirmed. The petition is dismissed.
    No costs.

    You might also like