Jan 2022 hearing of Najib’s appeal to reassess RM1.69b tax

 

Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s appeal to reassess his RM1.69 billion in taxes will be heard by the Special Commissioners of Income Tax (SCIT) for six days beginning Jan 3 next year. 

“The SCIT (hearing) dates for DSN (Najib’s tax reassessment appeal) are Jan 3 to 4, and April 4 to 7, 2022,” his lawyer Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee told Malaysiakini recently.

Farhan explained that unlike the courts in the judiciary, the SCIT is more akin to a tribunal under the Finance Ministry, whereby its scope is limited to tax reassessment appeals, among others.

If Najib is successful at his tax-reassessment appeal, the amount of tax he needs to pay to the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) can be reduced.

Based on an assessment issued by the Inland Revenue Board (IRB), the government had in June 2019 gone to the Kuala Lumpur High Court to recover RM1.69 billion in tax arrears and penalties from the former finance minister. 

In July last year, the High Court allowed the IRB’s application for summary judgment in the tax suit, in effect resulting in Najib needing to pay the amount.

Under civil law, a court may allow summary judgment, which entails deciding on a legal matter without going for a full trial.

With the summary judgment ruling, the IRB has initiated bankruptcy proceedings at the Kuala Lumpur High Court as part of efforts to recover the RM1.69 billion from Najib. 

However, Najib has since gone to the Court of Appeal to nullify the summary judgment ruling. The Court of Appeal will hear this appeal on Sept 9. 

Najib also has an ongoing bid at the Kuala Lumpur High Court to strike out the IRB’s bankruptcy notice against him. The High Court will hear this striking-out application on Dec 7.  - Mkini