GENERAL SANTOS CITY – World boxing icon Emmanuel “PacMan” Paquiao is playing referee this time to settle a fight between the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s Manila office and regional headquarters.
Pacquiao, who recently paid the government a P10-million tax, said the money must be shared by the two offices.
“Hinde naman porke doon ako nagbayad ng buwis sa Maynila ay doon na ito ma-credit. Dapat dito ’yon sa General Santos kasi hindi pa naman ako naglipat ng tirahan [Paying my taxes in Manila doesn’t mean they should grab the credit. It also must be credited here in General Santos because I have not transferred my residence],” Pacquaio said in a press conference here Wednesday.
BIR officials here and in Quezon City have been engaged into an argument after the Quezon City collection district allegedly refused to credit to General Santos Pacquiao’s tax payment last month.
Pacquio said that had it not been for the hectic preparations before his fight with Mexican boxer Eric Morales he had defeated on January 11 in Las Vegas, he could have paid his taxes here earlier.
“I decided to pay my taxes through the BIR district office in Quezon City amid my frenzied preparation for my upcoming fight with Mexican boxer Oscar Larios on July 11,” Pacquiao said.
On April 28 revenue district officer Noel B. Gonzales officially requested Nestor S. Valeroso, the BIR regional director in Quezon City, to credit Pacquiao’s tax payment to the local BIR office. Valeroso allegedly refused the request.
“Records show that Manny filed his income-tax return from 1995 to 2004 on May 31, 2005, and his first quarter 2006 on April 17, 2006, here.
His request for the tax exemption in behalf of the Emmanuel Pacquiao Foundation Inc., was even granted under DA 020-2006 by our regional office on February 9, 2006,” said Gonzales. The local bureau also issued Pacquiao’s tax income number on May 5, 1999.
City Mayor Pedro Acharon Jr. said other BIR district offices should respect the policies of the bureau.
He said the tax payment could be of greater help to his poor townmates in General Santos.
The tax contribution will not only help the local BIR district achieve its tax collection goal, but wouldalso return in form of internal revenue allotment to the city. With the money, the city could implement social development projects, infrastructure, health and education programs, Acharon said. Isagani P. Palma
