Pacquiao reportedly owes $18M to IRS, but lawyer denies it
It appears Manny Pacquiao's tax woes are far from over.
According to reports, Pacquiao owes the Internal Revenue Service more than $18 million in back taxes from 2006 to 2010.
According to documents obtained by the US-based entertainment news website TMZ, Pacquiao owes $1,160,324.30 in 2006, $2,035,992.50 in 2007, $2,862,437.11 in 2008, $8,022,915.87 in 2009, and $4,231,999.01 in 2010 for a total of $18,313,668.79.
During those years, Pacquiao had the best stretch of his career. He scored two knockout wins over Erik Morales and a decision victory over Oscar Larios in 2006. In the following year, Pacquiao stopped Jorge Solis and defeated Marco Antonio Barrera for the second time.
In 2008, Pacquiao’s popularity exploded after winning over Juan Manuel Marquez, knocking out David Diaz, and making Oscar dela Hoya quit on his stool. He followed this up with stoppage wins over Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto in 2009 and decision victories over Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito in 2010.
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In the midst of a garnishment, filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Top Rank Promotions boss Bob Arum released a statement saying that they paid the IRS in Pacquiao’s behalf.
"For each of Manny's fights that occurred in the United States, including those in 2008 and 2009, Top Rank withheld 30 percent of Manny's purses and paid those monies directly to the Internal Revenue Service via electronic funds transfer," the statement read.
"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."
Pacquiao’s lawyer Tranquil Salvador, however, denied these latest claims. “
We deny. We have no knowledge of the so-called IRS tax deficiency,” said Salvador in an interview with ANC.
Atty. Tranquil Salvador, Pacquiao's lawyer, on TMZ report: We deny. We have no knowledge of the so-called IRS tax deficiency.
— ABS-CBN News Channel (@ANCALERTS) December 11, 2013
Last week, Fight Hype’s Ben Thompson reported rumors that a levy has been placed on Pacquiao’s name in the United States. The levy was reportedly upwards of $18.5 million, which covers the amount reported by TMZ.
Yahoo! Philippines tried contacting Pacquiao's adviser Michael Koncz for comment, but calls to his mobile phone went unanswered.
