While his prize was tax-free in the Philippines, he lost P223 million in taxes to the United States government.
A very reliable source who is a top-level executive in a government agency relayed the information to the Manila Bulletin on the ironic twist of events experienced by the 60-year-old Filipino, a civil engineer who works in the Big Apple as building estimator.
Obviously, the source said, the balikbayan, who has been working for a long time in New York, is already a US citizen and green cardholder, thus he is covered by American tax laws.
He really cannot escape paying taxes to the US if he is an American citizen.
“Imagine, not a single centavo was deducted from his P741.17 million prize because lotto prizes in the country are pre-deducted with tax. So what the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) says is the lotto jackpot is exactly what every winner gets,” the source said.
