Kris Aquino. File photo

MANILA, Philippines - Celebrity Kris Aquino is the number one taxpayer in the country, beating out the country's billionaires, according to data from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

Aquino, the youngest sister of President Benigno Aquino, paid nearly P50 million in income taxes in 2011.

The BIR on Monday released its list of Top 500 individual taxpayers for 2011. The list includes familiar names from business and entertainment, as well as not-so-familiar names. (For the full list, click here)

Prominent businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan ranked fourth with P25.99 million. Executives from Ayala companies were also top taxpayers, such as Bank of the Philippine Islands president Aurelio Montinola III (P24.47 million) and Manila Water president Gerardo Ablaza (P22.64 million).

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario ranked 118th with P7.1 million in income tax payment in 2011.

Where are the billionaires?

Interestingly, the country's billionaires were not in the Top 10.

Mall tycoon Henry Sy, Sr., who was named the richest man in the Philippines by Forbes magazine, ranked 15th on the BIR list with P16.58 million income tax. His son Hans Sy ranked 22nd with P13.4 million income tax, while daughter Teresita Sy ranked 83rd, paying P8.3 million in income tax in 2011.

Tycoon Lucio Tan, the second richest in the Philippines according to Forbes, only ranked 35th in BIR's list, paying P10.78 million in income tax.

Tan paid less than his lawyer Estelito Mendoza, who ranked 14th with tax payment of P 17.63 million.

David Consunji and family, whose net worth was estimated by Forbes at $2.8 billion, ranked 176th, paying P5.9 million in 2011.

However, other tycoons such as Enrique Razon, Jr. ($4.9 billion), Andrew Tan ($3.95 billion), George Ty and family ($2.6 billion), Lucio and Susan Co ($2 billion), Robert Coyiuto, Jr. ($1.6 billion),Tony Tan Caktiong and family ($1.4 billion), Andrew Gotianun and family ($1.2 billion), and Roberto Ongpin ($1.2 billion) were nowhere on the BIR's list.



Celebrities on the list

Aside from Aquino, several celebrities also made the BIR's list of top individual taxpayers. TV host and actor Marvic "Vic" Sotto paid P14.72 million in taxes, ranking 19th, while Joey de Leon ranked 28th with P12.47 million in tax payments.

Actor Derek Ramsey ranked 120th, paying P7 million in taxes. Kim Chiu ranked 133rd with P6.7 million in tax payments.

Willie Revillame ranked 181th (P5.8 million), while Ogie Alcasid ranked 184th (P5.8 million). Sharon Cuneta ranked 191st, paying P5.74 million in taxes in 2011. John Lloyd Cruz ranked 205th, paying P5.4 million in income tax.

Boxing champ Manny Pacquiao ranked 158th, paying only P6.1 million in income tax in 2011.

Top corporate taxpayers

Smart Communications topped the BIR's list of top non-individual taxpayers in 2011, with P10.23 billion in income tax. Manila Electric Company (Meralco) ranked second with P8.3 billion in taxes, followed by Shell Philippines (P6.36 billion), Chevron Malampaya (P6.3 billion) and Nestle Philippines (P4.8 billion).

San Miguel Brewery ranked 6th (P4.77 billion), followed by Globe Telecom (P4.52 billion), tobacco giant PMFTC (P3.7 billion), Petron Corp. (P2.62 billion) and Philex Mining (P1.87 billion).