Court bides action on Pacquiao’s P2.2-billion tax case

The Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) on Tuesday said it will hold in abeyance the resolution of pending motions related to the petition of Senator-elect Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao questioning the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) P2.2-billion tax assessment against him to resolve the question of whether to dispense with the payment of a P3-billion cash bond or reduce the amount.

Pacquiao has been required by the CTA to pay a P3-billion cash bond or a P4-billion surety bond to stop the BIR from implementing the warrant of distraint and levy against his bank accounts.

READ: Tax court, BIR hand another win to Pacquiao

Pacquiao and wife Jinkee went to the Supreme Court to question the required bond payment,  saying it was too excessive.

Pacquiao and his wife said the Tax Court committed grave abuse of discretion when it issued the resolution requiring them to deposit the amount of P3,298,514,894.35 or a post a bond of P4,947,772,341.53 as a condition to stop the BIR from enforcing an order to collect tax liabilities worth P3.29-billion.

The Pacquiaos said the assessment and collection process employed by the BIR violated their rights to due process of law.

The couple, in their petition, admitted that they could not afford the bond given that their net worth is only P1,185,984,697 as of July 1, 2013.

The Supreme Court Second Division last April then ordered the CTA to conduct a preliminary hearing to determine whether the amount will be reduced or be dispensed with.

READ: SC stops collection of P3-B tax bond from Pacquiao couple

The court said it cannot make its own determination of whether to dispense or reduce the bond because “the CTA had not made even a preliminary determination of whether the [BIR] had acted patently in violation of the law in its tax collection efforts.”

“The CTA would be in a better position to make this finding,” the high court said.

The high court said if the Tax Court determines that a bond must be paid, there will be a re-computation to determine the amount of the bond taking into consideration the P32,196,534.40 already paid by Pacquiao  as well as AM. NO. 15-92-01 CTA.

The Tax Court on Tuesday started threshing out matters related to the case and the high court’s order.

It also conducted a clarificatory hearing on the presentation of evidence based on the high court’s order. RAM/rga