Why go after those who signed up for amnesty plan? Lim asks LHDN

 

Lim Guan Eng says nearly RM7 billion had been collected by the Inland Revenue Board under the special voluntary disclosure programme.

GEORGE TOWN: The government should stop going after those who have settled their back taxes under an amnesty programme introduced by the Pakatan Harapan government in 2018, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said.

He said the “U-turn” made by the present government would not stand in court and he was willing to testify against it.

This comes after the Chartered Tax Institute of Malaysia (CTIM) claimed that the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) had issued letters demanding taxes due before 2018 from those who had enrolled in the amnesty programme, known as the special voluntary disclosure programme (SVDP).

At a press conference today, Lim said the SVDP’s goal was clear, that those taking up the offer were assured that there would be no audit of income before 2018, giving them a “fresh start”.

“We wonder why the U-turn on this policy has been made. This affects the credibility of LHDN and, to an extent, the foreign investment climate, the former finance minister said at the Penang DAP headquarters here.

Lim said close to RM7 billion had been collected under the SVDP, which lasted from Nov 3, 2018, to Sept 30, 2019.

He denied claims the programme was done to launder illegal funds, saying “if people like Jho Low used the amnesty programme to clear his name, it would be rejected”.

Regardless of what taxes were paid through the SVDP, he said, taxpayers were still subject to criminal prosecution if they had flouted the law.

The SVDP allows those who had deliberately or inadvertently under-declared their incomes to pay lower penalties compared to the usual 45% to 300%.

Those who took up the offer by Sept 30, 2019 were told they only had to pay 15% penalty on their undeclared income.

A total of 286,482 taxpayers, including 11,176 paying tax for the first time, took up the offer, which saw RM7.8 billion paid to LHDN.

In a Sin Chew Daily report today, CTIM said those who had taken part in the SVDP had received letters stating that they had yet to declare their past taxes, an offence under sections 78 and 79 of the Income Tax Act 1967.

CTIM said it had been told by LHDN chief executive Sabin Samitah that although the tex[payers had declared their back income in “good faith”, they were subject to scrutiny to ensure there was “accuracy” in the payments made in the amnesty programme.

FMT has contacted LHDN for comment. - FMT