An assessment arising from a Letter Notice is valid even if not covered by a Letter of Authority.

On January 07, 2009, the BIR issued Preliminary Assessment Notice (PAN) assessing taxpayer deficiency income tax and VAT for calendar year 2006. On March 25, 2009, the BIR issued Formal Letter of Demand (FLD) and Final Assessment Notice (FAN) assessing taxpayer deficiency income tax and VAT for the year 2006. On February 18, 2010, the taxpayer wrote the BIR a letter stating that he was informed by a collection agent of the BIR that he has a deficiency tax which had become due and demandable. He wrote that he did not receive any FLD, FAN or notice of delinquency and requested that the tax assessment against him not be posted as delinquent inasmuch as the 30-day period for the filing of a protest had not commenced to run. On March 26, 2010, the revenue region issued a memorandum finding that the FLD and FAN, both dated March 25, 2009 were posted and delivered by mail to the taxpayer at his given address on April 2, 2009. The taxpayer had until May 12, 2009 within which to file his protest, and that the protest letter dated February 18, 2010 was filed out of time, and the subject assessment had become final, executory and unappealable. On April 11, 2011, taxpayer filed a petition for review before the CTA.
On the issue of whether or not the CTA had jurisdiction over the case, the Court ruled that the taxpayer could have requested a reconsideration or reinvestigation and administratively protested the FLD. But he failed to do so within the 30-day period set by law. Consequently, he was unable to timely raise a dispute upon which the BIR could have rendered a final decision appealable to the CTA. The taxpayer’s failure to comply with the 30-day statutory period barred the appeal and deprived the CTA of its jurisdiction to entertain and determine the correctness of

the assessment. With the taxpayer having lost not only the remedy of protest but also of appeal, the assessment attained finality and became executory. [Adelardo K. Pagente vs. Honorable Esmeralda M. Tabule, CTA EB No. 1030, June 3, 2014)