July 6 decision on IRB’s request for summary judgment in Najib’s son lawsuit

The Kuala Lumpur High Court today set July 6 for the decision on the Inland Revenue Board’s (IRB) application for summary judgment in its lawsuit against former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s son, Mohd Nazifuddin Najib, to seek RM37.6 million in unpaid taxes.

Lawyer Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee, representing the 37-year-old Nazifuddin, told reporters that they just filed additional submissions yesterday, and parties involved needed more time to reply.

“The court then fixed July 6 for the decision,” he told reporters.

Judge Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim will deliver the verdict.

Summary judgment is where the court decides on a certain case through arguments without hearing witness statements in a trial.

The High Court had on March 2 dismissed Nazifuddin’s request for a stay of proceedings of the case pending an appeal on the amount required to be paid by him to IRB.

The IRB via the government filed the writ of summons against Nazifuddin on July 24, last year, claiming that he still had unpaid taxes for the assessment years from 2011 to 2017 as stated through the assessment notice dated March 15, 2019.

According to the statement of claim, Nazifuddin’s failure to pay taxes for the seven years, which should be done within 30 days from the date of the assessment notice as stipulated under Section 103 of the Income Tax Act 1967, caused a 10 percent additional payment to be imposed.

The plaintiff claimed that the defendant still failed to settle the amount within 60 days in accordance with the Act, and another compounded five percent increase was imposed, bringing the total to RM37,644,810.73.

The amount comprises RM1,780,837.70 for the assessment year of 2011, RM6,604,851.81 (2012), RM6,279,834.41 (2013), RM4,360,278.87 (2014), RM2,074,950.76 (2015), RM2,623,943.76 (2016) and RM13,920,113.42 (2017).

Hence, the government is seeking a sum of RM37,644,810.73, with an interest of five percent per annum from the day of judgment until the sum is settled, costs and other relief deemed fit by the court.

- Bernama