A post shared by jinkeepacquiao (@jinkeepacquiao) on Jul 23, 2018 at 8:08am PDT

MANILA - The Court of Tax Appeals has ordered the Bureau of Internal Revenue to not collect any cash bond from Senator Manny Pacquiao and his wife Jinkee while their tax evasion case was ongoing.

The resolution by the court's first division directed the BIR to “cease and desist” from collecting a deposit or bond covering the Pacquiaos' P3.298 billion tax deficiency.

The couple is battling a tax evasion case involving deficiencies amounting to P1.134 billion with value added tax of P4.603 million for 2008 and P1.471 billion with VAT of P34.267 million for 2009.

“The bond requirement under Section 11 of Republic Act No. 1125 (An Act Creating the Court of Tax Appeals) should be dispensed with, in view of the violations of rules and irregularities committed by respondent in the conduct of the assessment of petitioners’ tax liabilities and its collection thereof,” the CTA said in the resolution signed CTA Presiding Justice Roman Del Rosario and Associate Justices Erlinda Uy and Cielito Mindaro-Grulla.

The CTA also said that the BIR, which was then headed by former Commissioner Kim Henares, failed to prove the 15-year period subject of the investigation is allowed under Revenue Memorandum Order No. 27-2010.

The BIR started running after the tax deficiencies of the Pacquiao couple for taxable years 1995 to 2009 in 2010 under the Run After Tax Evaders (RATE) program of the Aquino administration.

The Pacquiaos argued that under the tax code, a taxpayer is only required to keep his accounting records for three years.

The CTA also said the BIR failed to prove the issuance of Notice of Informal Conference and that there was no evidence of fraud or tax evasion during the preliminary investigation.

The court also said the assessment in the Formal Letter of Demand lacked sufficient foundation and was thus issued arbitrarily.

The Warrants of Distraint and/or Levy/Garnishment or what was commonly referred to as a freeze order on assets of a taxpayer were also prematurely executed by the BIR.

The court also said the Pacquiaos were not given a copy of the warrants issued against their bank accounts.

“Taking all the foregoing into consideration, this court therefore finds that respondent, in its assessment of petitioners’ tax liability, and its efforts of collecting the same, utterly failed to comply with necessary requirements under pertinent laws and issuances,” the CTA said.

Pacquiao's case is scheduled for a pre-trial conference on August 30, 2018.