Aug 9 maintained for Najib's son's appeal in unpaid RM37.6m income tax suit

 

The Court of Appeal has maintained the Aug 9 hearing date for former prime minister Najib Razak's son Mohd Nazifuddin's appeal in a suit filed by the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) over unpaid income tax.

His counsel Wee Yeong Kang, when contacted, confirmed that the hearing date which was earlier fixed during case management on Feb 4 this year has been retained.

Wee said today's case management before deputy registrar Mariam Hasanah Othman was to update the status of the cause papers.

Nazifuddin filed the appeal against the High Court decision on July 6 last year which ordered him to pay RM37.6 million in unpaid tax to IRB.

That was after IRB's application to enter a summary judgement against him was allowed. IRB's tax arrears suit seeks to recover the unpaid amount due from Nazifuddin between 2011 and 2017.

In allowing the summary judgement, judge Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim said it has been proven that the plaintiff's claim was clear and obvious.

A summary judgment is when the court decides a particular case summarily, without calling witnesses to testify in a trial.

The IRB via the Malaysian government filed a writ of summons against Nazifuddin on July 24, 2019, claiming he still had unpaid taxes for the assessment years 2011 to 2017 as stated in an assessment notice dated March 15, 2019.

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

The government also contended that Nazifuddin 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.

- Bernama