Filipino boxing icon, Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao suffered a huge setback after scoring a unanimous victory over Brandon Rios in Macau when the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) in the Philippines ordered his bank deposits frozen over a P2.2 billion tax case.
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Photo Credit: AP/Vincent Yu
The CTA’s First Division issued the freeze order of Manny Pacquiao’s account some two weeks ago but it was only announced yesterday, a day after Pacquiao’s enormous ring comeback and emphatic win against American Brandon Rios.
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The lawyer of Manny Pacquiao earlier protested to the CTA the warrant of garnishment (WG) issued by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), attaching his personal (–foul word(s) removed–)ets that included his bank deposits. The BIR normally issues WG to prevent delinquent taxpayers facing court suits from disposing of his or her (–foul word(s) removed–)ets during the trial.
Manny Pacquiao’s tax case arose from the alleged failure of Pacquiao’s accountant to report his income tax returns (ITR) the multi-million-dollar taxes collected by the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from his prize winnings for the years 2008 to 2009.
Pacquiao’s camp stated that the (–foul word(s) removed–)sment, which included interests and surcharges, was “arbitrary,” stressing that Manny could not afford to pay the (–foul word(s) removed–)sment because it was more than his net worth.
The BIR lawyers on their part stated, that the tax debts have become “demandable, executor, and collectible” because the solon allegedly ignored to answer the final (–foul word(s) removed–)sment notice (FAN) sent to him, which expired 30 days after receipt as provided for in the Tax Code. BIR officials added further that as Filipino citizen, Manny as Congressman, is required to declare in his ITR all his earnings, including those derived from abroad.
Based upon the records of the BIR, Manny Pacquiao earned more than $28 million in prize money after his fight with Juan Manuel Marquez, David Rios, Oscar dela Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto. The IRS already collected $8.4 million out of Pacquiao’s earnings.