TAXATION
Chapter I
GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF TAXATION
A. CONCEPTS, NATURE, AND CHARACTERISTICS OF TAXATION AND TAXES
Definition of Taxation
The act of laying a tax and the lifeblood of the nation.
The process or means by which the sovereign, through its law-making body, raises revenues to defray the
necessary expenses of the government.
The methods of apportioning the cost of government among those in some measures are privilege to enjoy its
benefits and must, therefore, bear its burden.
Purpose of and importance of taxation
To provide funds with which to promote the general welfare and protection of its citizens, and enable it to finance
its multifarious activities. Clearly, no government can perform its functions nor continue to exists without funds. It is,
therefore, important that people pay taxes promptly and willingly.
Definition of taxes
It is the enforced proportional contributions from persons and property levied by the law-making body of the state
by virtue of its sovereignty for the support of the government and all public needs.
Essential characteristics of tax
1. It is an enforced contribution
2. It is generally payable in money
3. It is proportionate in character
4. It is levied on person and property
5. It is levied by the state which has the jurisdiction over the person or property
6. It is levied by the law-making body
7. It is levied for public purposes
Theory and basis of taxation
1. Power of taxation – existence of government is a necessity; therefore, it has the right to compel its citizens and
property within its limits to contribute.
2. Basis of taxation – benefit received principle
Nature of power of taxation
1. It is inherent in sovereignty
2. It is legislative in character
3. It is subject to constitutional and inherent limitations
Aspects of taxation (taxation system)
1. Taxation – levying or imposing of the tax which is a legislative act.
2. Tax administration – collection of tax
Basic principles of a sound tax system
1. Fiscal adequacy – revenue is sufficient for public demands
2. Equality or theoretical justice – ability to pay principle
3. Administrative feasibility – convenient, just, and effective administration
B. CLASSIFICATIONS AND DISTINCTIONS
Classification of Taxes
1. As to subject matter or object
a. Personal, poll, or capitation (community tax)
b. Property (real state tax)
c. Excise (state donor, income taxes, VAT, business taxes)
2. As to purpose
a. General, fiscal, or revenue (income tax, and almost all taxes)
b. Specific or regulatory (protective tariffs or customs duties on imports)
3. As to scope (or authority imposing a tax)
a. National (national revenue tax, customs duties, taxes imposed by law)
b. Municipal (real state tax)
4. As to determination of account
a. Specific (excise tax on distilled wines, cigarettes, gasoline and others)
b. Ad valorem (real estate tax, VAT, percentage taxes, excise tax on automobiles, jewelry, and others)
5. As to who bears the burden
a. Direct (community tax, corporate or individual income taxes)
b. Indirect (all business taxes)
6. As to graduation or rate
a. Proportional (real property tax and all percentage tax)
b. Progressive tax (income tax, estate tax, donor’s tax)
c. Regressive (there is no regressive tax in the country)
Taxes distinguished from other terms
1. Revenue – all funds or income derived by the government
2. Internal revenue – taxes imposed by the legislature other than duties on imports and exports.
3. Custom duties – taxes on imported and exported goods
4. Debt – a tax is not a debt
Debt
Contract based
Assignable
Can be paid in kind
Nonpayment is not sanction to
imprisonment
Tax
Law based
Not assignable
Payable in money
Nonpayment is sanction to
imprisonment
5. Penalty – sanction imposed as a punishment for the violation of law or acts deemed injurious.
Penalty
Designed to regulate conduct
Imposed by government or private
authority
Tax
Aimed at raising revenue
Imposed only by the
government
C. LIMITATIONS ON THE POWER OF TAXATION
1. Constitutional
a. Due process of law
“No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be
denied the equal protection of the law.”
b. Equal protection of law
“All persons subject to legislation shall be treated alike under like circumstances and conditions both in the
privileges conferred and liabilities imposed.”
c. Rule of uniformity and equity in taxation
Uniformity – “All taxable articles and properties of the same class shall be taxed at the same rate.”
Equity – “The apportionment of the tax burden among the taxpayers be more or less just in the light of the
taxpayer’s ability to shoulder the burden.”
d. No imprisonment for non-payment of poll tax
e. Non-impairment (changes) of the obligation of contracts
f. Non-infringement of religious freedom
“No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religious or prohibiting the exercise thereof.”
g. No appropriation of public money or property for religious purposes
h. Exemptions of religious, charitable and educational entities, non-profit cemeteries, and churches from taxation
i. Exemption of non-stock, non-profit educational institution from taxation
j. Concurrence by a majority of all members of Congress for the passage of a law granting tax exemption
k. Authority of the President to veto the particular item or items in a revenue or tariff bill
l. Non impairment of the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in tax cases
2. Inherent
a. Requirement that levy must be for a public purpose
 For the support of the government
 For some of the recognized objects or government
 To promote the welfare of the community
b. Non-delegation of the legislative power to tax
 Delegation to the President – national context
 Delegation to local government – municipal corporations
 Delegation to administrative agencies – used for the valuation of property
c. Exemption from taxation of government entities
d. International comity – the property of a foreign state or government may not be taxed by another.
e. Territorial jurisdiction – property wholly and exclusively within the jurisdiction of a state.
D. TAX EVASION AND TAX AVOIDANCE
Tax Evasion
 The use of the taxpayer of illegal and fraudulent means to defeat or reduce the payment of a tax.
 This is usually punishable by law.
 It should be applied to the escape from taxation accomplished by breaking the letter of the law.
 It is deliberately omission to report a taxable item.
Tax Avoidance
 It is used by the taxpayer of legally permissible means or methods in order to avoid or reduce tax liability.
 It is not punishable by law.
 This covers escape, accomplished by legal means which maybe contrary to the intent of the sponsor of the law
but nevertheless do not violate the letter of the law.
TOPICS TO REPORT
1. Basic concepts and aspects of agrarian reform
2. Implementation of agrarian reform; comparative agrarian reform programs; balanced development; agrarian
problems
3. Imperatives of agrarian reform
4. Constitutional provisions relevant to agrarian reform; the Code of agrarian reform
5. Tenants emancipation decree
6. Bill of rights of agricultural labor
7. Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP)
8. Agricultural leasehold system
9. Department of Land Reform
10. Land Bank
11. Cooperatives
CASE NO. 1
TOO HIGH SIN TAXES MAY RESULT IN LESS REVENUE
I read only recently Senator Ralph Recto’s sponsorship speech on Senate Bill 3299, the Sin Tax bill, as reported out by the Committee
on Ways and Means that he headed until recently, and I think he is unfairly being demonized by those who would mostly benefit from it.
Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Health Secretary Enrique Ona, and Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares criticized Recto
for paring down the projected income from the very high taxes on cigarettes and liquor from P60 billion to only P15 billion. The
combined pummeling forced Recto to resign the chairmanship of the committee. Sen. Franklin Drilon took over the position.
I understand why Purisima, Henares and Ona were dismayed at the Recto version of the bill (the House of Representatives has already
passed its own version.) The main job of Purisima and Henares is to raise funds for an always-hungry government; Ona’s department
will get 80 percent of the proceeds from the sin taxes, an amount that Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said may be too much for the
Department of Health to absorb. On the other hand, the Committee on Ways and Means bears the burden of thinking of ways to earn
more money for a greedy government which, like the giant who forces (by shouting “More! More! More!”) the goose to lay more and
more golden eggs until it couldn’t lay anymore and died.
That was what Recto was trying to avoid. By taxing the cigarette and liquor industries too much, the government, like the giant, may kill
these industries.
The justification for the big jump in sin taxes is that cigarettes and liquor are bad for the health. The government reasoning goes like
this: By raising the prices of cigarettes and liquor “high enough,” people will stop smoking and drinking, thus saving their lungs and
livers.
False. Raising prices will not make smokers and drinkers quit. While most drinking is a vice, smoking is not. It is already an addiction.
Although many smokers want to quit, they cannot. Their bodies crave for the nicotine. So like a drug addict, they will go to all sorts of
ways to get money for a nicotine fix, even if that means reducing the food budget for their families. And like a drug addict, they may
even resort to selling family belongings or even go down to stealing in order to get money to satisfy their craving for nicotine.
The solution is not to severely tax the “sin products” but to ban them completely, said Recto in his report.
“If the social injury they cause is greater than the tax they contribute, then government should stop asking money from those who pack
cigarettes and bottle the six-pack and should instead tell them to pack up and go,” Recto said in his report.
“There is policy incoherence,” he added, “in calling sin products cancer-causing and yet demand a higher cut from their sales and justify
that share as an anti-cancer tax.”
Ban drinking and smoking totally? Impossible, as the failed Prohibition in the United States shows. The truth is that through the years
“taxing cigarettes and liquor has always been the easiest way for a government to get a fiscal high, so it was often done, the justification
being that when one pays for smoking or gulping (liquor) is more of a fine than a tax…
“The reality is that we have a government that is addicted to cigarette tax. It needs the fiscal equivalent of a nicotine fix. If we ban
cigarettes, this government will weaken from lack of cigarette taxes. That would be the real fiscal shock,” Recto said.
There would be another fiscal shock. That is when revenue from cigarettes, after initially increasing, gradually decreases so that
government would get less than what it was getting before the tax rates were increased. Why? Because of smuggling. That has b een
the experience of other countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and Indonesia that also raised cigarette taxes too much. Even
New York, which is supposed to have the best police force in the world, was no match for the smugglers.
What more of the Philippines with its many islets and isolated beaches, perfect landing points for smugglers, and a Coast Guard whose
watercraft cannot catch up with the fast kumpits of smugglers? Not to mention an incompetent and graft-ridden Bureau of Customs
(BOC) that cannot stop smuggling in huge container vans in broad daylight. They should have first asked the BOC if it could stop
cigarette smuggling. But there’s no need for an answer; it cannot.
The equation is simple: When cigarette prices are too high in any given place, smugglers come in with their lower-priced cigarettes
because they do not have to pay any taxes. And smokers, instead of quitting, will just buy the cheaper smuggled cigarettes that the
whole Philippine government cannot stop from coming in. Result: The cigarette companies would be able to sell less of the expensive,
tax-paid local cigarettes and therefore the government would collect less revenue. It would be the foreign cigarette factories and the
smugglers that would benefit from the high taxes we would impose. Remember when cigarettes were being smuggled in plain sight in
Cavite, and smuggled cigarettes were being peddled in every street corner? That will happen again if the government does not temper
its greed.
“The danger of pushing taxes too high is that it may reach a point of diminishing tax returns,” Recto warned. “As in any product, a
higher tax rate does not automatically result in higher collections.”
Worse, it may lead to the extinction of the local cigarette and tobacco farming industries, so that the government, instead of getting a
little, eventually gets nothing.
Raise taxes on “sin products” all right, but not too much as we may kill the goose that lays the golden egg. Let us not be as greedy as
that giant.
Chapter III
TAX ADMINISTRATION AND PROCEDURE
A. FUNCTIONS AND AGENCIES INVOLVED
Stages in imposition of tax
1. Levy – it is a legislative act which determines that a tax of a certain amount or a certain percentage shall be
imposed on persons, properties, or act subject thereto.
2. Assessment – it is an official action of an officer authorized by law in ascertaining the amount of tax due under the
law from a taxpayer. This action necessarily involves
a. the computation of the sum due;
b. the giving of a notice to that effect to the taxpayer; and
c. the making, simultaneously or subsequent to the giving of notice, of a demand upon him for the payment of a
tax or deficiency stated.
3. Collection – it is, of course, the getting by the proper government agencies of the taxes imposed.
Tax Administration - refers to the manner and procedure of assessing and collecting or enforcing tax liabilities. There
are two functions of tax administration namely: (1) assessment, and (2) collection.
Organization of the Bureau of Internal Revenue
1. Chief official – Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of the Internal Revenue
2. National office – Commissioner, four Deputy Commissioner, and the constituents offices of the Bureau
3. Field service – under decentralized system:
a. Regional offices
b. Revenue district offices
Power and duties, in general, of the Bureau of Internal Revenue
1. To assess and collect all national internal revenue taxes, fees, and charges;
2. To enforce all forfeiture, penalties and fines connected therewith;
3. To execute judgments in all cases decided in its favor by the Court of Tax Appeals and ordinary courts;
4. To give effect to and administer the supervisory and police power conferred to it by law; and
5. To recommend to the Secretary of Finance all needful rules and regulations for the effective enforcement of the
provisions of the National Internal Revenue Code.
B. ASSESSMENT AND COLLECTION OF TAXES
Assessment not generally required
For purposes of assessment, internal revenue taxes may be classified into two:
1. Self-assessing taxes – those which do not require assessment by the Bureau of Internal Revenue to establish tax
liability; and
2. Those which requires such assessment to establish tax liability.
When assessment required
1. When the tax period of a taxpayer is terminated by the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue as when the
taxpayer intends to leave the Philippines or hides or conceals his property; and
2. In case of deficiency taxes for failure to file a return or for filing a false or fraudulent return.
Who may assess?
The authority to make assessment of internal revenue is vested by law on the Commissioner of Internal Revenue.
Protesting of assessment
When the Commissioner of Internal Revenue or his duly authorized representative finds that proper taxes should be
assessed:
1. He shall first notify the taxpayer of his findings.
2. Such assessment may be protested administratively by filing a request for consideration or reinvestigation in such
form and manner as prescribed by implementing regulations within 30 days from receipt of the assessment;
otherwise, the assessment shall become final and unappealable.
3. If the protest is denied in whole or in part, the person, association or corporation adversely affected by the
decision of the Commissioner on the protest may appeal to the Court of Tax Appeals within 30 days from the
receipt of the said decision, otherwise, the decision shall become final, executor and demandable.
Enumeration of remedies available to government for the collection of taxes
1. Administrative
a. Distraint of personal property;
b. Levy of real property;
c. Enforcement of forfeiture;
d. Entering into tax compromise;
e. Requiring the filing of bonds;
f. Giving of rewards to informers;
g. Imposition of surcharge and interests;
h. Making arrest, search and seizure;
i. Deportation of aliens;
j. Inspection of books of accounts;
k. Obtaining information on potential taxpayers;
l. Inventory-taking of stock-in-trade and conducting surveillance;
m. Prescribing presumptive gross sales and receipts;
n. Prescribing real property values;
o. Inquiring into bank deposit accounts; and
p. Termination of tax period.
2. Judicial
a. Ordinary civil action; and
b. Criminal action
C. DISTRAINT OF PERSONAL PROPERTY
Distraint – (sometimes also called distress) is the seizure by the government or personal property, tangible or intangible,
to enforce the payment of taxes, to be followed by its public sale, if the taxes are not voluntarily paid.
Kinds of distraint
1. Actual – hence, there is a taking possession of the personal property out of the taxpayer into that of the
government.
2. Constructive – hence, the owner is merely prohibited from disposing of his property.
Requisites for exercise of remedy of distraint and levy
The remedies of distraint and levy cannot be availed of where the amount of tax involved does not exceed P100 as the
costs incident to the availment of the remedies might even be more than P100.
How actual distraint affected
1. In case of tangible property – the officer serving the warrant of distraint shall sign a copy of the list of personal
distrained.
2. In case of intangible property:
a. Stock and other securities – by serving the warrant to the corporation or company.
b. Debts and credits – by leaving with the person owing the debts of having in his possession.
c. Bank accounts – by serving a warrant to the responsible officer of the bank.
Purpose and grounds of constructive distraint
To safeguard the interest of the government, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue may place under constructive
distraint the property of a taxpayer, whether delinquent or not, who, in opinion:
1. is retiring from any business subject to tax, or
2. is intending:
a. to leave the Philippines, or
b. to remove his property therefrom; or
c. to hide or conceal his property, or
3. is performing any act to obstruct the proceeding for collecting tax due or which may be due from him.
How constructive distraint effected
1. sign a receipt covering the property distrained, and
2. obligate himself to preserve the same intact and unaltered and not to dispose of the same in any manner
whatsoever without the express authority of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue.
Where taxpayer fails or refuses to sign receipt
The revenue officer effecting the constructive distraint shall:
1. proceed to prepare a list of such property; and
2. in the presence of two witnesses, leave a copy thereof in the premises where the property distrained is located,
after which the said property shall be deemed to have been placed under constructive distraint.
Actual distraint and constructive distraint compared
1. Both are summary remedies for the collection of taxes and both refer only to personal property;
2. Both cannot be availed of where the amount of the tax involved is not more than P100;
3. In actual distraint, there is a taking possession, while constructive, the taxpayer is merely prohibited from
disposing of his property; and
4. Actual distraint is effected by leaving a list of the property distrained or by service of a warrant of distraint or
garnishment, while constructive, by requiring the taxpayer to sign a receipt of the property or by the revenue
officer preparing and leaving a list of such property.
D. LEVY OF REAL PROPERTY
Levy – a summary administrative remedy, refers to the same act of seizure but of real property, in order to enforce the
payment of taxes.
When levy may be effected
Real property may be levied upon before, simultaneously, or after the distraint or personal property belonging to the
delinquent taxpayer and the remedy by distraint and levy may be repeated if necessary until the full amount, including all
expenses, is collected.
How levy effected
A levy contains:
1. a description of the property upon which levy is made;
2. the name of the taxpayer; and
3. the amount of tax and penalty due from him.
Distraint and levy compared
1. Both are summary remedies for the collection of taxes;
2. Both cannot be availed of where the amount of the tax involved is not more than P100;
3. Distraint refers to personal property; while levy, to real property;
4. In distraint of personal property, forfeiture by the government is not provided, while in the case of levy upon real
estate, forfeiture by the government is authorized where there is no bidder or the highest bid is not sufficient to
pay taxes, penalties, and costs;
5. The taxpayer is not given the right of redemption with respect to distrained personal property sold, while such
right is given in case of real estate levied upon, and sold or forfeited to the government.
E. ENFORCEMENT OF FORFEITURE
Forfeiture – implies a divestiture of property without compensation, in consequent of a default or offense.
How remedy of forfeiture enforced
1. In case of personal property – seizure and sale or destruction of the specific forfeited property.
2. In case of real property – by a judgment of forfeiture and sale on a legal action or proceeding, civil or criminal, as
the case may require.
Specific cases of forfeiture
1. Real property levied for tax delinquency
2. Articles withdrawn from custom custody
3. Articles subject to excise taxes
4. Liquor or tobacco shipped, transported or removed under a false name or brand.
When forfeiture property be destroyed or sold
1. Distilled spirits, liquors, cigarettes, apparatus and alike when the sale for consumption or use would be injurious to
the public health or prejudicial to the enforcement of the law.
2. For all articles subject to excise tax be sold or destroyed in the discretion of the Commissioner of Internal
Revenue.
F. COMPROMISE OF TAX LIABILITY
Compromise – is a contact whereby by the parties, by reciprocal concessions, avoid a litigation or put an end to one
already commenced. It is the amicable settlement of a controversy.
Requisites of compromise
1. The taxpayer must have a tax liability;
2. There must be an offer or an amount to be paid by the taxpayer;
3. There must be an acceptance of the offer in settlement of the original claim.
Extent of the power to compromise
1. In civil cases – compromise is allowed:
a. where there is reasonable doubt as to the validity of the claim against the taxpayer; or
b. where the financial position of the taxpayer demonstrate a clear inability to pay assessed tax.
2. In criminal cases – compromise is not allowed in any criminal cases involving the commission of fraud.
G. OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES
Requiring the filing of bonds
The Commissioner of Internal Revenue may require taxpayers to file a performance bond to secure payment of taxes or
to assure compliance with certain provisions of tax rules or regulations especially with estate, donor, excise taxes and
exporter’s bond.
Giving of rewards to informers
This is another administrative remedy that may be availed of by the Bureau of Internal Revenue to safeguard the interest
of the government:
1. For violations of the Tax Code
2. For discovery and seizure of smuggled goods
Imposition of surcharges and interest
1. Surcharge – the amount imposed by law as addition to the main tax in case of delinquency. The CIR shall
imposed surcharges as follows:
a. In case a false or fraudulent tax return is willfully made – 50% of the tax or deficiency tax.
b. In case of willful neglect to file a tax return within the time prescribed by law – 50% of the tax.
c. In case of failure (1) to file tax return; (2) to pay deficiency tax; (3) pay the full payment of tax – 25% of the
amount due.
d. In case of failure to file a tax return with the proper revenue officer – 25% of the amount due.
2. The taxpayer is liable to pay interest at the rate of 20% per annum for any unpaid tax from the date prescribed by
law for its payment.
Making arrest, search and seizure
1. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
2. Regional directors
3. Revenue district officers
4. Internal revenue examiners
Deportation in case of aliens
1. Knowingly and fraudulently evades the payment of any internal revenue tax; and
2. Willfully refuses to pay such tax and its accessories penalties after the decision of his tax liability.
Inspection of books
Internal revenue have the authority to examine and inspect books of accounts and other records of taxpayers which must
be preserved by them for a period beginning from the last entry in book until the last day prescribed by law.
Obtaining information on potential taxpayers
1. To examine any books, papers, records or other data which may be relevant or material to such inquiry;
2. To obtain any information on regular basis from other persons or any government office or officer;
3. To summon any person having possession, custody, or care of books of accounts containing entries;
4. To take such testimony of the person concerned under oath, as may be relevant or material to such inquiry;
5. To cause revenue officers and employees to make inquiries with respect to all persons who make liable pay tax or
have custody or management of any taxable object.
Inventory-taking of stock-in-trade and conducting surveillance
1. The CIR may order this to a taxpayer as a basis of determining his tax liabilities;
2. The CIR may place under surveillance if there are reasons to believe that a person is not declaring his correct
income and receipts for internal revenue tax purposes.
Termination of tax period
1. Grounds – when it shall come to the knowledge of the CIR that a taxpayer is:
a. Retiring from the business subject to taxation;
b. Intending to leave the Philippines, or to remove his property therefrom, or to hide or conceal his property;
c. Performing any act tending to obstruct the proceedings for collecting the tax for the past or current quarter or
year; or totally or partly ineffective unless such proceedings are begun immediately.
2. Effects – said taxes are subject to tax and other penalties unless paid within the time fixed by the CIR.
H. JUDICIAL REMEDIES
When judicial action may be pursued
1. Civil action – collection of internal revenue taxes in the regular courts after tax assessment.
2. Criminal action – this is allowed only for enforcement of statutory penalties such as fines or imprisonment.
Effects of acquittal on tax liability
1. If the taxpayer is acquitted in the criminal case, such acquittal does not necessarily exonerate him from his civil
liability to pay the tax due.
2. The taxpayer is still liable where the acquittal is based on the fact that the failure to pay tax was due to a
reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect.
I. REMEDIES OF THE TAXPAYER IN INTERNAL REVENUE CASES
Before payment
1. Upon notice of a tax assessment, the taxpayer may question the legality or correctness of such assessment.
2. If the taxpayer so desires, he can enter into a compromise.
After payment
When there is erroneous or illegal collection of taxes, the taxpayer may ask for:
1. Claim in one for refund – where taxpayers ask for restitution of the money paid as tax.
2. One for credit – where the taxpayers ask that the money so paid be applied to his existing tax liability.
Appeal to the Court of Tax Appeals
The appeal may be done 30 days after receipt of the decision or ruling.
Action contesting forfeiture of chattel
In case of seizure of personal property under claim of forfeiture, the owner may want to contest the validity of the
forfeiture:
1. He may, at any time before sale or destruction of the property, bring action against the person seizing the
property or having possession to recover the same, and upon giving property bond, may enjoin the sale, or
2. After the sale and within 6 months, he may bring action to recover the net proceeds realized at the sale.
Action for damages against revenue officers
A taxpayer may file action damages against any taxpayers upon approval of the Secretary of Finance.
Filing criminal complaint against revenue officers
1. Extortion
2. Willful oppression
3. Knowingly demanding sums or compensation not authorized or prescribed by law
4. Willful neglecting to give receipts or any of the documents enjoined by law
J. REMEDIES OF THE TAXPAYER IN TARIFF AND CUSTOM CASES
Cases arising from the Tariff and Customs Code
1. Protest cases or those where the importer questions the legality of assessment and collection of customs duties
and other fees and charges.
2. Seizure cases or those wherein goods and merchandise are ordered seized by customs authorities and made
subject to the penalty of forfeiture or fine for violation of the Customs Law.
Remedy by making protest
1. Any importer who is not agreeable to the assessment of custom duties.
2. In protect cases, the importer may appeal the decision of the Collector of Customs to the Commissioner of
Customs.
Nature and purpose of seizure
1. Proceedings in seizure cases are actions directed against the property seized, not against the owner thereof or
his agent or the violator of the customs law.
2. In a seizure case, the government seeks the transfer of the title to the property from the owner to the state as a
punishment to the property itself.