Get on LHDN board too, Warisan MP tells Sabah

 

Sarawak has announced that a state representative has been nominated as a member of the LHDN board.

PETALING JAYA: Warisan deputy president Darell Leiking has urged the Sabah state government to emulate Sarawak and name a candidate to sit on the board of the Internal Revenue Board (LHDN).

Leiking said that having a dutiful and responsible board member from the state will give a “semblance of justice” to Sabahans, particularly over its claim for the return of its share of tax revenue from the state.

He said Sabah had been deprived of so much from its actual entitlement quantum.

Leiking said chief minister Hajiji Noor should “do the right thing now and propose the immediate appointment of a Sabahan as a member of the LHDN board, if he has not done so as yet”.

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Darell Leiking.

The Sabahan board member must be accountable to the state by monitoring the amount of revenue collected by Putrajaya and report back to Sabahans annually.

Leiking’s call comes in the wake of Sarawak’s announcement that the state government had submitted the name of its candidate to sit on the LHDN board.

Sarawak premier Abang Johari Openg said representation on the board would ensure that Sarawak received the correct amount of annual special grant allowed for in the Federal Constitution.

Sabahan leaders have conducted a long campaign over tax revenue, claiming that the state is owed a 40% share of taxes derived from the state.

However, finance minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz said in March that the revenue sharing formula was no longer applicable as the Sabah state government had agreed in 1975 to receive a fixed grant.

A month later, Putrajaya said it would increase the grant to RM125.6 million this year, more than quadruple the amount of RM26.7 million agreed to previously.

Last month, 12 elected representatives from Pakatan Harapan filed a suit to seek a declaration that the 40% formula was still applicable. - FMT