PARLIAMENT | The government has been urged to explain why former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak was not blacklisted from travelling abroad by the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) for not paying nearly RM1.7 billion in income tax.
RSN Rayer (Pakatan Harapan-Jelutong) said it is widely known that anyone in Malaysia who does not pay their taxes on time will be automatically blacklisted from travelling overseas by the IRB.
“My question is, why is Pekan (Najib) given special treatment until he can travel to Singapore? Why was he not blacklisted?” Rayer asked.
He had interjected during Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz’s winding-up speech for the committee stage of his ministry’s allocation under Budget 2022 in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Zafrul had responded that it was the court’s decision to allow Najib to travel to Singapore.
However, Rayer said he was not referring to the court’s decision.
“No, no, this is not about the court’s decision. You know that if you do not pay your taxes, you will be automatically blacklisted.
“Many of my friends who are lawyers have been (told they were) blacklisted when they were at the international airport… so why isn’t Pekan blacklisted?” he asked.
Several government backbenchers such as Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim (BN-Baling) and Ahmad Fadhli Shaari (PAS-Pasir Mas) had attempted to shut Rayer’s arguments down.
They dismissed it as a court matter and urged deputy speaker Rashid Hasnon not to let this issue waste any more of the minister’s allotted time for the winding-up speech.
Zafrul had then answered Rayer again, “Pekan (Najib) got the decision from the court and with that, the IRB is unable to blacklist him at this time”.
Rayer insisted he was asking about a different matter and reiterated his initial question about why Najib was given special treatment and not blacklisted like other people were for not paying their taxes.
“Returning the passport is a different matter. Blacklisting someone for not paying taxes is a different issue. I have a right to ask about this,” he said.
However, he was later told to leave the august House for 20 minutes by Rashid after he continuously interrupted the minister’s speech to urge him for an answer on why Najib was not blacklisted from travelling.
The Finance Ministry's allocation under Budget 2022 later passed its committee stage with a voice vote.
In July 2019, it was reported that the Malaysian government had filed a lawsuit against Najib, seeking RM1.69 billion in income tax which he still owed the IRB for the assessment years 2011 to 2017.
Based on summary judgment rulings, the IRB commenced bankruptcy proceedings against Najib in April this year to recover the tax arrears.
Najib has since filed an appeal to the Federal Court related to this case.
On Oct 18, the Court of Appeal also allowed Najib’s temporary passport release application so he can travel to Singapore to be with his expectant daughter, Nooryana Najwa.
The court had been holding on to Najib’s passport due to his various pending criminal cases. - Mkini
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