No tax due, says Sual firm

DAGUPAN CITY—An official of Team Sual Corp. (Team Sual), the company that owns the coal-fired power plant in Sual town in Pangasinan province, said his company does not owe the provincial government any taxes.

A local court had ordered the company to pay Pangasinan P178 million in transfer taxes, after concluding that it bought the power plant from Mirant Sual Corp.

It addressed a petition filed by Team Sual to annul the notice issued by the provincial treasurer in November 2010 for the firm to pay taxes for acquiring equipment and buildings of the Sual power plant when it took over its operations.

“With all due respect to the position of the provincial government… it is [Team Sual’s] position that no transfer taxes are due because Mirant Sual Corp. and Team Sual Corp. are one and the same entity and no transfer of real property was involved,” Froilan Gregory Romualdez III, external affairs head, said in a statement e-mailed to the Inquirer on Sunday.

“Team Sual Corp. will take all the remedies available to it, including the filing of a motion for reconsideration,” he said.

He added: “Team Sual is a responsible corporate entity that settles its rightful tax obligations in a timely manner. We reiterate our stand that transfer taxes are not applicable in this particular instance.” Gabriel Cardinoza, Inquirer Northern Luzon