BIR still waiting for Pacquiao
By Marlon RamosPhilippine Daily Inquirer
Manny Pacquiao
MANILA, Philippines – Boxing champion and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao has yet to submit the documents that internal revenue investigators are asking from him, according to Kim Henares, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) chief.
“As of now, he has not submitted them. (Maybe) he’s busy training,” Henares told a press briefing Thursday, drawing laughter from reporters.
Pacquiao, the eight-division world boxing champion, left last weekend for the United States where he will defend his World Boxing Organization welterweight crown against unbeaten American Timothy Bradley on June 9.
Henares reiterated that the BIR was not harassing Pacquiao when it required the champion to present documents showing his earnings.
She said the BIR has given Pacquiao “enough leeway” to settle his deficiencies with the agency.
“In that sense, we have provided enough leeway for him. That’s why I don’t understand why he’s claiming that we’re harassing him,” she said.
“As much as we can, we’re giving him the opportunity because we don’t want to be blamed (if he loses to Bradley),” she said.
The BIR office in Central
Mindanao has filed a complaint against Pacquiao for allegedly failing to submit complete tax records for 2010. If found guilty, Pacquiao could face up to two years in jail.
The boxer, whose declared assets of P1.1 billion in 2010 with no liabilities makes him the wealthiest member of the House of Representatives, complained that he was being harassed by the BIR and vowed to fight the case.
According to Henares, Pacquiao paid about P125 million in taxes in 2008. But a year later, he only paid around P7 million, she said.
Meanwhile, the BIR Thursday filed a tax evasion case against a contractor of the Manila city government for allegedly failing to settle a P30 million tax obligation.
Oscar Badillo, the registered owner of Royal Trust Construction, was charged with one count of “willful failure” to file his annual income tax return (ITR) and three counts of failure to submit his quarterly ITR for 2009.
Henares said the case against Badillo was the 106th tax suit that the BIR filed in the justice department under the Aquino administration.
“He is a registered taxpayer in Mandaluyong City, but he also (registered) in Trece Martires City and Quezon City. That’s already a violation of the law because you should only have one TIN (tax identification number),” Henares said.
The BIR chief said an investigation showed that Badillo made it appear that he filed an ITR with the tax agency’s office in Tondo, Manila, but the documents turned out to be bogus.
She said the businessman’s tax documents did not pass through the BIR’s collection and bank reconciliation system and “batching process.”
Badillo’s company received a total of P49.2 million from the Manila government for the construction of a three-story building of the F. Balagtas Elementary School, Henares said.
“Badillo failed to declare the taxable income with the BIR when he failed to file his ITR for 2009,” she said.
In a separate case, the BIR charged a certain Lerma Lasala and officials of First Flemming Properties for allegedly conspiring to avoid payment of more than P24 million in income and value-added taxes.
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Tags: BIR , Manny Pacquiao , Tax evasion cases
