Najib’s son Nizar records consent order to pay tax arrears

 

Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s son, Mohamad Nizar, has recorded a consent order with the Special Commissioners of Income Tax (SCIT) over the payment of tax arrears.

As a result, the businessperson will today be withdrawing a related appeal at the Court of Appeal against a High Court order granting summary judgment in the Inland Revenue Board’s RM13.1 million tax suit against him.

Nizar’s counsel Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee confirmed this when contacted by Malaysiakini today.

This morning, the Court of Appeal at the Palace of Justice, Putrajaya, is set for online case management of Nizar’s appeal to quash the summary judgment in the tax suit.

On Aug 11 last year, Nizar 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 the testimony of witnesses during the trial.

In her ruling, High Court 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 May 31, it was reported that Nizar has agreed to settle his tax arrears with the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) for the assessment years 2011 to 2017. It was also reported that he would be recording the consent order with SCIT on Aug 4.

Counsel Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee

Farhan said that Nizar’s legal team is set to inform the Court of Appeal during case management today about the recorded settlement and the intent to withdraw the appeal.

“Yes, he (Nizar) has recorded the settlement, and we will be withdrawing our appeal today, and update the court,” Farhan said.

When asked about the amount that Nizar and SCIT have agreed for settlement of the tax arrears, the lawyer said that he is not allowed to disclose the amount without getting specific permission from both his client and the IRB.

“The amount is significantly less than the claim (tax suit amount of RM13 million),” Farhan said.

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

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 were also hit with tax suits for RM1.69 billion and RM37.6 million respectively.

Both Najib and Nazifuddin have pending appeals at the Court of Appeal to quash High Court rulings allowing the IRB to obtain summary judgment in the tax suits.

However, it was reported that the duo has yet to settle the payments, causing the IRB to issue notices of bankruptcy against them. The bankruptcy proceedings are still pending before the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

Before the Shah Alam High Court, IRB also has a pending RM10.3 million tax suit against Najib’s daughter Nooryana Najwa.

However, the High Court had dismissed IRB’s application for summary judgment in the tax suit against her. The tax authority has since appealed to the Court of Appeal against the lower court ruling. - Mkini