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| ==[[Sarangani News]]== | | ==[[Sarangani News]]== |
| '''Pacquiao eyes suit vs BIR execs for harassment ''' | | '''Pacquiao told: Submit tax records or face jail time''' |
| *Source: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=791384&publicationSubCategoryId=63 | | *Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2012/03/30/pacquiao-told-submit-tax-records-or-face-jail-time-213928 |
| *March 27, 2012 12:00 AM | | *Friday, March 30, 2012 |
| :by Mike Frialde | | :by Virgil Lopez/ECV/Sunnex |
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| MANILA, Philippines - Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao yesterday hit the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) for filing what he said was a “harassment case” against him in connection with his alleged refusal to submit documents involving his business interests and income sources that were earlier summoned by the tax collection agency. | | MANILA -- Sarangani Representative and Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao can get away with contempt charges filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) if he can submit documents in connection to the huge drop in his tax remittances. |
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| Speaking to reporters in Makati City, Pacquiao also dismissed reports that what the BIR had filed against him was neither tax evasion nor tax fraud, but simply for his alleged refusal to submit documents summoned by the BIR.
| | Pacquiao, who has since cried foul over the case, was challenged by BIR Commissioner Kim Henares to do just that after the agency pushed for a “realistic assessment” of his tax liability. |
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| “The case against me is plain and simple harassment. Contrary to public perception, I am not charged with tax evasion or tax fraud. That is farthest from the truth. Over the years as a boxer, a product endorser and a businessman, I have not surcharged the government for what it is due. Hence, it is with a heavy heart to hear that I was charged with tax evasion or tax fraud. It was even reported in international media that I shall follow Mayweather soon in jail. I don’t have that intention. I would rather see him inside the ring,” he said, referring to the much awaited fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. who also had some legal issues. | | “The sooner he submits, the sooner this controversy will die down. We haven’t mentioned of any liability yet, that’s why we are investigating him,” Henares said Thursday. |
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| The Filipino boxing icon said that the case the BIR filed against him refers to a violation of Section 266 of the National Internal Revenue Code for alleged failure or refusal to submit more than 62 documents required by the BIR.
| | “We have to see the gravity of the violation. As of now, we are not even talking or thinking of tax evasion. We are only asking him to submit the documents,” she added. |
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| Under Section 266 (Failure to Obey Summons), any person who fails to appear to testify, or to appear and produce books of accounts, records, memoranda or other papers, or to furnish information as required by the BIR, could pay a fine of not more than P10,000 and face a prison term of not more than two years.
| | Henares belied Pacquiao’s claims that he is being harassed by the BIR after its regional office in Sarangani claimed he rebuffed the agency’s summons in March to submit certain documents pertaining to his tax returns. |
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| Pacquiao added that the case filed by the BIR against him was baseless, as he did not personally receive the agency’s letter of authority and the subsequent subpoena.
| | The Sarangani lawmaker’s failure to obey summons from the BIR prompted Regional Director Rozil Lozares to file the case, citing Section 266 of the National Internal Revenue Code. |
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| He said the BIR even violated its own rules when it served the subpoena not on him but on another person not known to him.
| | Penalties for this offense could range from a fine of P5,000 to P10,000 and imprisonment of one year to two years. |
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| He also questioned why the BIR served the subpoena in General Santos City when he is now a resident of Sarangani.
| | Lozares said the tax bureau issued a subpoena duces tecum (or subpoena for production of evidence) in January directing Pacquiao to present income-related documents but the lawmaker supposedly failed to appear before them. |
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| Lawyer Rozil Lozares, BIR Revenue Region 18 director, said they filed charges against Pacquiao last March 1 before the Prosecutor’s Office in Koronadal City in connection with their ongoing investigation into the representative’s tax payments in 2010 based on the income tax returns he filed.
| | Pacquiao said he should no longer be taxed for earnings from his fights abroad consistent to the Philippines-US tax treaty but Malacañang surmised that the investigation will have something to do with his local endorsements. |
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| “The BIR said that the case against me is not harassment but the letter (of authority) was sent when I was fighting with Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas, Nevada. I do not know why the BIR is singling me out,” Pacquiao said.
| | In the BIR’s list of top 500 taxpayers, the eight-division world champion ranked first in 2008 for paying P125 million but he tumbled down to 113th place in 2010. |
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| Pacquiao fights back
| | “Why the sudden drop?” Henares asked. |
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| “The BIR in one instance has tarnished my name by filing a criminal case against me. They value taxes more than the rights of people. Don’t tarnish the names of big taxpayers,” he said.
| | Taking the cudgels for Pacquiao is Senator Ramon Revilla Jr., who criticized BIR for showing disrespect to “someone who we all consider as a contemporary hero.” |
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| Pacquiao said he had complied with the BIR’s summons and sent his accountant to Lozares’ office.
| | "If the BIR is certain that Manny committed an error, then just take the necessary actions and file the necessary charges. Why announced it on the papers?" Revilla said. |
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| However, he said, it was Lozares who was not in his office at the date specified for the submission of the documents.
| | The senator also advised Pacquiao to take the issue “with a grain of salt” and direct his attention to the upcoming fight against Timothy Bradley on June 9. |
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| Pacquiao’s lawyers led by former justice secretary Artemio Toquero said they would question the BIR’s authority to gather evidence against taxpayers.
| | But Henares said that Pacquiao should blame himself for the adverse publicity that this controversy brought him, including supposed loss of endorsement deals abroad, saying publicity was fueled by his own camp. |
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| “We intend to question the validity of the National Internal Revenue Code which gives the BIR authority to gather evidence,” Toquero said.
| | The BIR chief said the BIR in Koronadal City never made mention of him during press conference of its tax campaign. |
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| He said they will contest the validity of the subpoena and will ask the Supreme Court to declare it null and void.
| | But the local press got wind of Pacquiao’s failure to obey summons and inquired from the regional director, who was forced to confirm it. |
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| “The subpoena and the letter (of authority) is illegal, the case filed is null and void. We will contest that in the SC,” he said.
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| Pacquiao hinted that his lawyers would be filing a case of violation of Republic Act 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) against Lozares and other BIR executives.
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| His lawyer Abraham Espejo, also dean of the New Era College of Law, explained that BIR executives behind the case filed against the boxing champ are liable for causing undue injury to the boxing champ following the pullout of several product endorsements.
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| ==Photo Gallery of Sarangani, Philippines== | | ==Photo Gallery of Sarangani, Philippines== |