Manny Pacquiao and Bob Arum. File Photo
MANILA, Philippines — Top Rank chief Bob Arum came to Manny Pacquiao’s defense on Wednesday, saying his company had withheld part of Pacquiao’s prize money and paid that directly to the Internal Revenue Service of the United States.
In a statement posted on boxingscene.com, Arum said that his company Top Rank has “withheld 30 percent of Manny’s purses and paid those monies directly to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) via Electronic Funds Transfer.”
The Hall of Fame promoter also said that Top Rank submitted the copies of the EFT deposit slips to the Bureau of Internal Revenue, but the BIR insisted that Pacquiao obtained the certified documents.
BIR commissioner Kim Henares was quoted in a wire report as saying that all the bureau got from Pacquiao’s camp was a letter from HBO and Top Rank.
“That is self-serving and a mere scrap of paper. What he can do is go to the IRS, ask IRS to certify this copy as a true copy. We have been waiting for that [certified copy] for two years,” Henares said in an Associated Press report.
A legal tax battle greeted Pacquiao, one of the highest paid athletes in the world, on Tuesday afternoon upon his return from a stirring lopsided decision over Mexican-American Brandon Rios last Sunday.
The BIR, in the AP report, said that the Filipino boxing champion hasn’t proved that he paid taxes in 2008-2009 — which would include his fights in the U.S. soil.
Arum said that obtaining the certified documents from the IRS “takes time” but added that Pacquiao has already made a formal request.
“And we have every expectation that the necessary documents will be furnished to the BIR very soon,” he said.