PALAWAN Rep. Tony Alvarez said yesterday Manny Paqcuiao should also be cited for feats outside the ring, foremost of which is being the No. 1 taxpayer.
“If the government is running out of awards to give to Manny, then it should think of honoring him for being the reigning champion in the individual income tax payment category,” Alvarez said.
A Bureau of Internal Revenue report last April revealed that Pacquiao paid P125 million in taxes for 2008, besting Forbes-listed billionaires whose assets dwarf his prize winnings.
“He?s not only the world?s pound-for-pound boxing king, but he?s also the country?s peso-for-peso tax payments title holder,” Alvarez said.
Alvarez cited another benefit of honoring Pacquiao as top taxpayer “is that it would spur others more moneyed than him to knock him out of the BIR listing.”
Pacquiao landed first in the Bureau of Internal Revenue roster of the top 500 individual taxpayers for calendar year 2008, which was published in the BIR website last summer before then BIR Commissioner Joel Tan Torres left office.
