Pacquiao, who has won titles in a world-record eight different weight divisions, was named in a complaint by the Bureau of Internal Revenue after it said he failed to cooperate with their investigation. The government said the 33-year-old boxer could face up to two years in jail and be fined up to 10,000 pesos if he’s found guilty.
The fine surely won’t worry the multimillionaire since it’s the equivalent of about U.S. $235, but he definitely wouldn’t be too thrilled about the prospect of spending a couple of years behind bars. Investigators said Pacquiao isn’t being singled out since the investigation is routine and 39 others also had complaints filed against them.
Pacquiao appeared on television on March 9 and said he hasn’t been uncooperative, but the Internal Revenue Bureau said he was served with three notices as well as a subpoena. He said he has no intention of evading the investigation and has nothing to hide since he’s paid everything that should have been paid. Pacquiao hasn’t been charged with any criminal activity as of yet, but that could change if the matter doesn’t progress and if prosecutors feel they have enough evidence to convict him.
Pacquiao declared his assets last May at 1.13 billion pesos U.S. $26.3 million and said he had no liabilities. It was estimated that he spent about $7 million in 2010 during his successful election campaign and earned approximately $35 million in a pair of fights against Miguel Cotto and Joshua Clottey. He was ranked as the 24th-richest athlete in the world last year by Forbes magazine.
Tax officials stated that the contempt charges filed against Pacquiao will enable them to investigate his tax payments and earnings, but he hasn’t been charged with tax evasion. They said they’re looking for 33 documents from Pacquiao because they’ve noticed some discrepancies in his 2010 return. The news may tarnish Pacquiao’s image in his homeland where he’s currently regarded as a national hero.
He was elected to congress last year in the Sarangani province and many people feel he’ll run for the nation’s presidency once he retires from boxing. Nobody’s sure when that will be as he’s scheduled to take on Timothy Bradley on June 9 and could then possibly face unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. later in the year.
But looking at the bigger picture, if Pacquiao is indeed worth just $26.3 million after earning numerous times that amount in his career, there could be something wrong. The shockingly-low amount would point to the fact that the taxman has already taken his share or somebody else is dipping their hands into Pacquiao’s pockets. It’s something he needs to look into before he ends up like so many other former star athletes….in the poor house.
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