Pacquiao's bank accounts frozen over tax owed.

Manila, Philippines – Boxing idol Manny Pacquiao, who scored a unanimous victory over American Brandon Rios in their World Boxing Organization (WBO) international welterweight title fight last Sunday in Macau, suffered a setback at home when the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) ordered his bank deposits frozen over a P2.2-billion tax case. The tax court’s First Division issued the freeze order some two weeks ago but it was only known yesterday, a day after Pacquiao’s emphatic win. The boxing icon’s lawyers had earlier protested before the CTA the warrant of garnishment (WG) issued by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), attaching his personal assets that included his bank deposits. The BIR normally issues WG to prevent delinquent taxpayers facing court suits from disposing of his or her assets during the trial. US Income Unreported The tax case arose from the alleged failure of Pacquiao’s accountant to report in 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 said the assessment, which included interests and surcharges, was “arbitrary,” stressing he could not afford to pay the assessment because it was more than his net worth. BIR lawyers said, however, that the tax debts have become “demandable, executor, and collectible” because the solon allegedly ignored to answer the final assessment notice (FAN) sent to him, which expired 30 days after receipt as provided for in the Tax Code. Revenue officials explained that as a Filipino citizen, Pacquiao, a congressman representing Sarangani province, is required to declare in his ITR all his earnings, including those derived from abroad. $28M Earned In 2008, 2009 Records show that the boxing icon earned more than $28 million in prize money for successfully defending his various titles against Juan Manuel, David Rios, Oscar de la Hoja in 2008, and Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto in 2009. Of the amount, the IRS collected $8.4 million or roughly about P395 million. Pacquiao declared he did not include remittances to IRS in his returns due to the existing bilateral tax treaty agreement between Manila and Washington, which stipulates that income tax paid by Filipinos in the US is creditable against his income tax liabilities here. He added that what he remitted to the BIR was the value-added tax (VAT) amounting to P12 million to cover P114 million earnings from endorsing at least 14 products. He argued that the BIR assessment has no legal force because it was based on “best obtainable sources.” He accused revenue probers of ignoring the financial reports submitted by his promoter, Top Rank Promotions and other actual transaction documents, relying only on the so-called “best obtainable evidence rule.” http://www.mb.com.ph/pacquiao-bank-deposits-frozen/