Sept 21 hearing for stay bid by Najib, son over RM1.7bil tax arrears

 

In 2020, Najib Razak (left) and son Nazifuddin were instructed to pay RM1.7 billion in tax arrears sought by the Inland Revenue Board.

PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court will hear on Sept 21 applications by Najib Razak and his son Nazifuddin to stay payment of RM1.7 billion in tax arrears to the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) pending the outcome of their appeals before the apex court.

Lawyer Wee Yeong Kang, a member of the legal team representing Najib and Nazifuddin, said the date was fixed after case management before deputy registrar Suhaila Haron.

“We filed a stay of execution so that our final appeal will not be nugatory (a futile exercise),” he told FMT.

On May 10, a three-member Federal Court bench chaired by chief justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat allowed the leave applications of Najib and Nazifuddin to appeal against a Court of Appeal ruling last year.

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The Court of Appeal had earlier given the duo a stay of a summary judgment obtained by LHDN in the High Court but only up to the disposal of the appeal.

In 2020, High Court judge Ahmad Bache ruled that Najib had to pay LHDN RM1.69 billion, inclusive of additional tax and penalties for the assessment years from 2011 to 2017.

Separately, High Court judge Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim ordered Nazifuddin, a businessman, to pay RM37.6 million in unpaid taxes from 2011 to 2017.

LHDN had filed for the summary judgment although Najib and his son had filed appeals to the Special Commissioners of Income Tax (SCIT) on the disputed assessment sum.

This is because Section 106 of the Income Tax Act states that a person must “pay first and talk later” though an appeal has been made to the SCIT.

Wee also said the Federal Court had yet to fix the appeal hearing date as Najib and his son were awaiting the Court of Appeal’s judgment.

Revenue counsel Ainur Mardhiah Ramli represented LHDN while Choo Kelly appeared for the Malaysian Bar as a friend of the court (amicus curiae). - FMT