Manila, Philippines ? The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has rejected the appeal of world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao to either reduce or dispense with the P4.9-billion surety bond imposed by the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) for the lifting of the BIR?s freeze order on his bank deposits, it was learned yesterday.
The BIR issued the denial two weeks ago after the tax court asked the bureau to comment on the new request of the solon to reduce or do away with the performance bond.
Revenue lawyers cited CTA?s ruling that the surety bond may not be doubled, but cannot be lowered than the BIR assessment.
They also mentioned Section 218 of the Tax Code which states that ?no court shall have the authority to grant an injunction to restrain the collection of any internal revenue tax, fee, or charge imposed by this Code.?
According to tax lawyers, the surety bond may be reduced if the litigant is indigent or incapable of paying the bond.
Based on his 2013 Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) submitted to Congress, Pacquiao is the richest congressman with a total net worth of P1.4 billion.
The tax court had earlier granted the request of the solon for more time to look for a surety company willing to put up the bond for it to earn 10 percent or about P490 million, out of the total performance bond of P4.9 billion.
The amount could be reduced to the actual assessment of P3.9 billion if the lawmaker could produce a P3.9-billion cash bond.
The original assessment for the years 2008 and 2009 totaled to about P2.2 billion which went up to P3.9 billion due to annual interests and surcharges.
It was in that two-year period that Pacquiao successfully defended his various titles against equally great boxers Miguel Cotto, Ricky Hatton, Oscar de la Hoya, David Rios, and Juan Manuel Marquez.
