Najib's son Nizar agrees to pay tax arrears

 

Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s son, Mohamad Nizar, has agreed to pay his tax arrears.

Lawyer Wee Yeong Kang told Bernama today that his client Nizar, 43, had reached an agreement with the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) on the settlement of the tax arrears for the assessment years 2011 to 2017.

Under normal legal practice, the amount of settlement between a taxpayer and the IRB in a tax suit is not disclosed to the public.

“The consent judgment should have been recorded before the Special Commissioner of Income Tax (SCIT) on May 27 previously; however, it was rescheduled to Aug 4 following the (re-implementation of the) movement control order,” the lawyer said.

Wee was speaking after today’s online case management before Court of Appeal deputy registrar Mariam Hasanah Othman in regard to Nizar’s related appeal.

The proceedings was also attended by counsel Muhammad Nabil Abdul Halim, who was acting for IRB.

In regard to Nizar’s appeal, Wee said that the court fixed June 3 for case management to determine whether Nizar is allowed in his application to postpone hearing of the appeal originally scheduled on June 16, while awaiting the recording of the consent judgment.

On Aug 11 last year, Nizar (above) filed an appeal against the Shah Alam High Court's decision on Aug 7 the same year, which allowed IRB’s bid to obtain summary judgment against Nizar.

Summary judgment is when the court decides on a certain case via submissions without hearing testimony of witnesses during trial.

In her ruling, Judicial Commissioner Julie Lack Abdullah ruled that the issue raised by Nizar has no merit and is baseless, as well as that taxpayers need to pay tax first without taking into account dissatisfaction with the said amount or give any excuse.

On July 24, 2019, the IRB had filed a writ of summons against Nizar, seeking for him to pay a total of RM13,159,821.94 for the assessment years from 2011 until 2017.

Aside from Nizar, Najib and his other son Mohd Nazifuddin also reportedly needed to pay tax to the IRB as ordered by the Kuala Lumpur High Court. Najib was ordered to pay RM1.69 billion while Nazifuddin is RM37.6 million.

However, it was reported that the duo has yet to settle the payments, causing the IRB to issue notices of bankruptcy against them. Those cases are still pending before the High Court. - Mkini