PCF pursues GM's tax case

The Philippine Chess Federation yesterday said it would exhaust all avenues to help Grandmaster Joey Antonio get tax relief for his earnings in the recently-held Chess Millennium Pambansa Grand Prix even as the Bureau of Internal Revenue denied reports it had already come out with an official ruling on the matter.

PCF chairman Arturo A. Borjal said there is a chance Antonio and other winners of the Chess Grand Prix where P3.8M was at stake could get tax exemptions because they have the status of national players and the Philippine Chess Federation, which organized the tournament, is a national sports association recognized as such by the Philippine Sports Commission.

The PCF made the move as the BIR yesterday denied reports published in the newspapers (not The STAR) that it had already made an official ruling on the tax exemptions. The BIR's legal office said it is taking time to study the case. It did not elaborate.

The news reports published yesterday were based on a report quoting Antonio as saying his request for tax exemption had been rejected by BIR commissioner Dakila Fonacier when they met Tuesday morning.

Antonio left for Indonesia Tuesday afternoon to compete in the Bali Open chess tournament. With him in the tournament are GM Eugene Torre, international masters Rico Mascarinas and Bong Villamayor and national master Rolando Nolte.

The PCF staged what is so far the biggest, richest chess tournament, with a purse of P1M going to Antonio, who won it in a best-of-four final match with NM Enrique Paciencia.

The champion's prize was given by Real Bank, through its president Reynato Sarmiento. Gerry Carpio

The first advice the PCF got from a middle-level officer of the BIR before it was to award the prizes to the winners April 18 was to deduct 10 percent from the P1-M purse. The PCF wrote a check for P900,000, less the 10 percent withholding tax, only to be informed later that the tax is for 20 percent.

Antonio refused to accept the check for P900,000, prompting the PCF to get a BIR official ruling on the case.