SPVD - Guan Eng urges Putrajaya to ensure IRB does not U-turn

 

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng has urged the Finance Ministry to ensure that the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) does not resort to bad practices in its audit of participants in the 2018-2019 tax amnesty programme.

In a statement today, Lim said the Finance Ministry must assure taxpayers that there will be no arbitrary freezing of bank accounts or "shaming" of taxpayers by means of publicised enforcement raids.

The IRB is currently reviewing details submitted by participants of the Special Programme for Voluntary Disclosure (SPVD) which was initiated when Lim was finance minister.

This, according to Lim, amounted to a U-turn in government policy because when the SPVD was in force, the IRB accepted the declarations in good faith and did not subject the involved taxpayers to an audit.

Lim explained that the SPVD was implemented to overcome compliance issues by taxpayers and alleged abuse of power by the IRB.

The scheme reduces the penalty for late taxes to 15 percent, down from a maximum of 300 percent. In total, the SPVD programme saw RM7.877 billion being collected from 286,428 taxpayers.

However, Sin Chew Daily had recently reported that the Chartered Tax Institute of Malaysia (CTIM) had been receiving complaints from SPVD participants that they were currently being audited.

Lim said the IRB had no reason to investigate taxes paid before 2018 by SPVD participants unless the latter were involved in criminal activities.

"The IRB has said that it relies on the honesty of the taxpayer. Such a requirement is mutual in that the IRB must also act honestly.

"The IRB is bound by their standard letter which proposes a tax assessment which they have agreed upon. In other words, such an agreement can only be made after the IRB has conducted a comprehensive assessment," he said.

Lim reiterated that he will offer himself as a witness should any affected taxpayer bring the IRB to court for reneging on its promise under the SPVD. - Mkini