III.

Whether or not the appellant is an heir of his deceased father within

the meaning of section 1540 of the Administrative Code.

Luis W. Dison argued that he is not an heir of his deceased father within the
meaning of Sec. 1540 of the Administrative Code. The property was given to him
during the lifetime of the decedent and left no property to be inherited thereafter.
The only evidence introduced at the trial are the proof of payment of the tax protest
and the deed of gift executed by Felix Dison in favor of his son Luis W. Dison
which was acknowledged before a notary public. Appellant claimed that since he
does not have knowledge of the fact of whether his father executed a will, he is not
even certain that he is the sole heir of the decedent. Thus, the donation made in his
favor should not be included in the estate of his late father.

In order to establish whether or not appellant is an heir, we rely to the

provisions in the Civil Code of the Philippines.

Art. 887 of the Civil Code provides who are the compulsory heirs.

Art. 887 of the Civil Code- The following are compulsory heirs:

(1) Legitimate children and descendants, with respect to their legitimate

parents and ascendants;

(2) In default of the foregoing, legitimate parents and ascendants, with

respect to their legitimate children and descendants;

(3) The widow or widower;

(4) Acknowledged natural children, and natural children by legal fiction;

(5) Other illegitimate children referred to in Article 287.

 From the provision above, the appellant, as the son of Felix Dison, clearly
falls under paragraph (1) of Art. 887 of the Civil Code. It is not necessary to
distinguish whether or not he is the sole heir of the decedent. In the case at hand, it
is only necessary to establish whether or not he is a compulsory heir of the
decedent.

In order to correlate Art. 887 of the Civil Code to the issue at hand, the
expression in section 1540 of the Administrative Code "those who, after his death,
shall prove to be his heirs" includes those who are given the status and rights of
heirs, regardless of the quantity of property they may receive as such heirs. In the
case at bar, the appellant is a compulsory heir of the decedent. Thus, he is given the
status and the right to be an heir of his deceased father under Section 1540 of the
Administrative Code.

Therefore, as an advance made by Felix Dison to his only child, Luis W.

Dison, he is considered as an heir of his deceased father within the meaning of
Section 1540 of the Administrative Code. Hence, we hold section 1540 to be
applicable and the tax to have been properly assessed by the Collector of Internal
Revenue.