Manny Pacquiao may have won his latest match in Macau, but he has yet to claim victory in his bout with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
According to Commissioner Kim Henares, the People’s Champion misdeclared his income in 2009—he supposedly failed to state his earnings from two fights in the US—resulting in tax deficiencies worth P2.2 billion, which led the BIR to freeze his bank accounts, reports Inquirer.net.
However, Manny was quick to say that he did not include those earnings due to the bilateral tax treaty between the US and the Philippines, which allows taxes paid by a Filipino in the US to be credited to his income tax liabilities in his home country.
“Nagpabugbog ako, kumita ako, kinuha ng gobyerno (I got beaten up, I earned my due, and had it taken away by the government),” PEP.ph quoted him as saying.
According to ABS-CBNNews.com, boxing promotion company Top Rank Inc., already submitted the necessary documents proving his payment electronically as per US law, but the BIR is adamant that he submit certified true copies as evidence. As of press time, the said copies have reportedly been mailed to Manny's lawyers.
“I wanna ask the BIR... how many times have they asked for certification from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)? Probably slim and far between. So what they're doing to Manny is absolutely outrageous and it's politics at its worst,” says Bob Arum, Manny’s promoter at Top Rank.
(Photo courtesy of PEP.ph)
