Oh, now you know – Najib mocks Guan Eng over income tax policy

 

Former finance minister vs former finance minister: Najib Razak ticks off Lim Guan Eng.

PETALING JAYA: Najib Razak has mocked Lim Guan Eng’s call for Putrajaya to abolish a new section under the Income Tax Act 1967 which requires tax payable to be settled even if the assessment is challenged.

The former prime minister who earlier this month had a bankruptcy notice filed against him for failing to pay RM1.74 billion in additional tax arrears and penalties, wondered if Lim had only just realised that the law could also be applied to the opposition.

In a Facebook post, Najib said there was a possibility that the Act could be abused to levy a tax of RM1 trillion on Lim, which would be enough to clear the nation’s debt.

“Whether it is reasonable or not, is another matter. You pay first, talk later. If you do not pay RM1 trillion, the government will make you bankrupt and you will lose your parliamentary seat,” he said.

The trillion-ringgit debt figure was quoted in 2018 by Lim, then finance minister, as representing the total amount of the national debt.

Najib also rejected a claim by Lim that the new section had been introduced in December last year. Najib said that it had been in existence since the time of the Barisan Nasional government.

However he did not abuse this law during his tenure as the prime minister, he said. The approach used by the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) then was to give leeway to those who had been taxed, to seek justice.

LHDN would not have simply declared someone bankrupt as the board would not be able to collect any money, he said.

Najib said that Lim would know that the RM1.74 billion in tax assessed was unreasonable, illogical as well as amounting to an abuse of power.

But the LHDN, under Lim’s ministry, had still pursued the matter because the Pakatan Harapan government did not like him, he said, while the current Perikatan Nasional government is continuing with it even though its finance minister knows the action is wrong.

“And only now Guan Eng and PH is beginning to worry that this act is being abused when claiming that LHDN is being used to get PH members of Parliament to jump ship.”

Najib said while certain laws, such as the Internal Security Act, had its purpose, they must not be abused for political reasons. - FMT