Arum: Pacquiao's taxes paid in US; Papers coming 'very soon'

MANILA, Philippines - The promoter of eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao defended him on Wednesday after the bank accounts of the Filipino boxing icon were frozen due to a tax fraud case.

After the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said Pacquiao hasn't proved he paid taxes in 2008 and 2009, Top Rank chief Bob Arum claimed that for every fight of the boxing champion, 30 percent of his earnings were withheld by the company.

These were then paid directly to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the US through the Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT).

"Top Rank has deposit confirmations for each payment. Top Rank has done the same for all U.S. endorsements it has facilitated on Manny's behalf," Arum said in a statement posted on boxingscene.com.

He explained that Top Rank submitted copies of the EFT deposit acknowledgements to the BIR but the agency wanted "certified" documents directly from the IRS.

In an interview with ANC on Wednesday afternoon, Arum said BIR Commissioner Kim Henares asked Pacquiao to get a certification from the IRS months ago.

But the IRS has yet to give the certification and getting such document takes time, according to Arum.

"As I am sure people appreciate, obtaining certified copies of documents from the IRS takes time. Manny made the formal request to the IRS and we have every expectation that the necessary documents will be furnished to the BIR very soon," Arum said in a statement.

The Top Rank chief said in the ANC interview that Henares should have asked the IRS for such certification instead of "putting the burden" to Pacquiao.

In past media reports, Henares had said the only proof of tax payments in the US that Pacquiao's camp has provided was a mere letter from Top Rank and HBO, but nothing from the IRS.

"That is self-serving and a mere scrap of paper," an Associated Press report quoted Henares as saying. "What he can do is go to the IRS, ask IRS to certify this copy (of his tax payments) as a true copy. We have been waiting for that for two years."

She said of the 22 banks the BIR has ordered to report on Pacquiao's accounts, only two said they held deposits for the boxing champion containing a total amount of  P1.1 million .

The amount has been covered by a garnishment warrant issued by the BIR in connection with Pacquiao's tax case.

Pacquiao has asked the BIR to remove the garnishment since he cannot pay his staff and that he has vowed to help the victims of a recent powerful typhoon.

The former pound-for-pound king has claimed that he has done nothing wrong, saying he would have already been arrested in the US during a visit there if he did not pay the right taxes.

"The money that was garnished by the BIR is not stolen," he said. "This came from all of the punches, beatings, blood and sweat that I endured in the ring." - with Oliver Teves, the Associated Press

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