Top Rank boss Bob Arum reacts to Pacquiao's tax evasion case

Top Rank Promotions boss Bob Arum came to the rescue of his most prized boxer by issuing a statement tosupport Manny Pacquiao’s claims that he already paid his taxes in the United States and is not obligated to pay any more in the Philippines. This comes at the heels of a warrant of garnishment issued by the BIR on his assets prompting the boxer to borrow money to fulfill his promise of helping out the victims of typhoon Yolanda.

“Filipino authorities confirmed that Manny is not required to pay double tax. If Manny paid U.S. taxes for fights and endorsements that occurred on U.S. soil, he is not required to pay double taxes in the Philippines,” Arum’s statement read.

He also clarified that Pacquiao did not even touch the money allocated for taxes in the US.

"For each of Manny’s fights that occurred in the United States, including those in 2008 and 2009, Top Rank withheld 30% of Manny's purses and paid those monies directly to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) via 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,” the statement continued.

Arum also explained that, as Pacquiao said in his statement, the documents from the IRS are not easy to get. He also corroborated Pacquiao’s claim that their camp has already requested for copies from the IRS after the BIR’s request.

"Top Rank submitted copies of the EFT deposit acknowledgements to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) as proof of payment. The BIR received the documents but directed Manny to obtain “certified” documents directly from the IRS itself.

"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."