Commissioner of Internal Revenue vs Pineda
No. L-22734, September 15, 1967
FACTS:
Respondent Manuel Pineda, as one of the heirs of the deceased Atanasio Pineda, received an amount of P2500 from the estate of his deceased father as his share in the inheritance. The BIR assessed the estate with income tax deficiency and made Manuel Pineda liable for the payment of all the taxes due from the estate in the total amount of P760.28 instead of only for the amount of taxes corresponding to his share in the estate.
ISSUE:
Can the Government require an heir to pay the full amount of the taxes assessed?
RULING:
Yes, an heir is liable but it cannot exceed the amount of his share. He is liable for the assessment as an heir and as a holder-transferee of property belonging to the estate-taxpayer. As an heir he is individually answerable for the part of the tax proportionate to the share he received from the inheritance. As a holder of the property belonging to the estate, he is liable for the tax up to the amount of the property in his possession. The Government has a lien on such property. But after payment of such amount, he will have a right to contribution from his co-heirs.
The Government has two ways of collecting the taxes in question:
1. By going after all the heirs and collecting from each one of them the amount of the tax proportionate to the inheritance received; or
2. By subjecting said property of the estate which is in the hands of an heir or transferee to the payment of the tax due the estate.
In this case, the BIR opted for the second remedy to collect the tax as it has the discretion to avail the most expeditious way to collect the tax. Taxes are the lifeblood of the government and their prompt and certain availability is an imperious need.
Myline Cordial 
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