The requirements for claim for refund of excess unutilized creditable withholding tax at source are: (1) the claim is filed with the Commissioner of Internal Revenue (CIR) within the two-year period from the date of payment of the tax; (2) it is shown on the return of the recipient that the income payment received was declared as part of the gross income; and (3) the fact of withholding is established by a copy of a statement duly issued by the payor (withholding agent) to the payee showing the amount paid and the amount of the tax withheld therefrom.

The instant case involves a claim for refund of taxpayer's alleged unutilized creditable tax withheld for taxable year ending December 31, 2007. Due to the inaction on its claim for refund, the taxpayer filed a petition for review before the CTA. The Court ruled that the taxpayer complied with all the requirements for claim for refund of excess creditable withholding tax at source. As to the first requisite/condition, the reckoning of the two-year prescriptive period for filing a claim for refund of excess creditable withholding tax (CWT) or quarterly income tax payment starts from the date of filing of the Annual Income Tax Return because it is only from this time that the refund is ascertained. Petitioner electronically filed its original Annual Income Tax Return for taxable year 2007 on April 14, 2008. Counting from this date, petitioner had until April 14, 2010 within which to file its claim for refund both administratively and judicially. Thus, petitioner's administrative claim, filed on October 21, 2009, and the instant Petition for Review, filed on April 13, 2010, fall within the two-year prescriptive period provided under Sections 204(C) and 229 of the NIRC of 1997, as amended. (Philippine Realty and Holdings Corporation vs. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, CTA Case No. 8070, December 20, 2011)