The Court of Tax Appeals denied it has issued any freeze order on the bank deposits of boxing champ and congressman Manny Pacquiao, in connection with a P2.2 billion tax evasion case.
"The CTA has not issued any order freezing the bank accounts of Pacquiao. It is the BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) which issued a warrant of garnishment to the banks, which in effect froze his accounts," Atty. Margarette Guzman, CTA First Division Clerk of Court. told ABS-CBNnews.com.
The CTA made the statement after Pacquiao confirmed that there was a freeze order on his bank accounts and properties. Pacquiao even said he had to borrow money for the financial aid he promised for the typhoon survivors in the Visayas.
Guzman said Pacquiao has filed a civil case with the court last August questioning the assessment issued against him and his wife for P2.2 billion.
"Sometime October 18, the petitioners, congressman Pacquiao and Jinky Pacquiao filed urgent motion to lift warrants of restraint and levy and garnishment and for the issuance of an order to suspend the collection of tax with prayer for issuance of TRO. That is the one being heard by the court currently. No ruling as of yet has been rendered by the court to that effect. Whether or not the court will grant the motion or deny the motion," she told ANC.
However, the CTA's First Division has not yet issued its ruling on Pacquiao's motion, Guzman said.
Pacquiao's tax case stemmed from the reported failure of his accountant to report in his income tax returns the millions of dollars-worth of taxes he paid in the US in relation to his fight purses from 2008 to 2009.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
