Pacquiao freed from US tax lien -lawyer

MANILA, Philippines - The lien against bank accounts and properties of Filipino boxing icon and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao has recently been lifted by the United States government, his lawyer revealed on Sunday.

The fighter's lawyers said Pacquiao is a step away from being cleared from allegations that he failed to settle $18 million in taxes from his 2006 to 2010 fight purses with the US' Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

"The IRS has abated the tax assessments against Manny which triggered the filing of the lien and has released or is in the process of releasing all federal tax liens and levies," Pacquiao's counsels, Steven Toscher of Hochman Salkin Retting Toscher & Perez P.C. and David Marroso of O'Melveny and Meyers, said in a statement.

Toscher, denying anew accusations against his client, added that the world eight division champion is "serious" about his tax obligations.

Read: Twin tax trouble: Manny Pacquiao faces new foe outside the ring

Pacquiao's camp, he said, has been working with the IRS and will continue to do so to completely settle outstanding tax issues.

The boxer's Filipino lawyer Tranquil Salvador, meanwhile, announced during his victory party late Saturday that his client has been freed from tax lien in the US.

"Ang ibig sabihin nun, na-lift na lahat nung mga lien ng kanyang properties sa Amerika, so wala na itong marka ng tinatawag natin na IRS," Salvador said in an interview with ABS-CBN.

"Ang ibig sabihin nito, malaya niyang maibebenta, malaya niyang magagawa ang gusto niyang gawin sa kanyang mga property, ganun rin po ang bank accounts," Pacquiao's representative added.

The lawyers, however, refused to reveal details of the recent developments on Pacquiao's tax troubles, citing the confidentiality of the case.

"Matters regarding Manny’s finances and tax matters are confidential, and both the IRS and his advisors have respected his privacy and continue to focus their attention on the facts, not misleading rumors perpetuated by others," the American attorneys added in the statement.

Pacquiao is still facing a tax case in the Philippines filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue, which issued a garnishment order on his bank accounts for allegedly failing to pay $50 million in back taxes from 2008 to 2009.