MANILA, Philippines – A senator charged at the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) for filing contempt charges against Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao for his alleged failure to present his tax records to the agency.
Sen. Ralph Recto said that the BIR is unwittingly portraying the Filipino boxing idol, who is also a representative of Sarangani Province in Congress, as a tax evader.
Recto said that Pacquiao’s earnings from his fights in the United States (US) should no longer be taxable since he has already paid for it with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
“OFWs earnings which are derived from working abroad are not subject to tax. I think the same principle should also apply to Pacquiao, who may not be a true-blue OFW but still our very own ‘Overseas Fighting Worker’,” Recto said.
The senator also threw punches at the BIR and the local internal revenue branch in Pacquiao’s province for running after him.
He said that Pacquiao’s tax payment is way bigger than the combined payments made by the revenue collectors who are running after him.
“Sila kaya sumubok na magpagulpi sa ring. Bakit nila ginagawa ito sa kanya?” Recto said. “How much goodwill and pride has he given to the country? Manny deserves a better treatment.”
Recto said that the BIR can only run after Pacquiao’s earnings from commercial endorsements and other local income-generating activities.
“It seems personalities who clobbered poverty and became successful are now natural suspects for tax evasion and ill-gotten wealth,” Recto said.
He said Pacquaio’s wealth is borne out of hard work and not a mere inheritance from affluent relatives or from lotto winnings.
Pacquiao is now the subject of a tax probe for alleged discrepancies in his income tax returns, particularly his income returns in 2010.
The BIR had filed contempt charges against Pacquiao for failing to submit financial records. The boxing icon has asked the agency for an extension to submit the documents.
