Company director gets RM2.4mil penalty for failing to file tax returns

 

Wong Siew Lan today admitted to not paying full taxes on more than RM3.3 million in income over a two-year period. (Bernama pic)

JOHOR BAHRU: A recycling company director incurred a penalty of almost RM2.44 million in addition to a fine of RM18,000 at the magistrates’ court here today for her failure to file tax returns for more than RM3.3 million of taxable income during the assessment years of 2021 and 2022.

Magistrate Nurzihan Abdul Rehman imposed the sentence after Wong Siew Lan, 49, pleaded guilty. He also ordered a 12-month prison sentence in lieu of the fine.

Wong was charged under Section 77A(1) of the Income Tax Act 1967, which requires her to furnish a tax return in the prescribed form C for years of assessment 2021 and 2022 to the director-general of inland revenue.

Wong failed to file the returns for the taxable income of RM1.83 million for the assessment year 2021 and RM1.56 million for 2022. This meant she should have paid a tax of RM812,000 for both the years combined.

Prior to sentencing, Wong, a mother of five, who was unrepresented, pleaded for leniency.

She said her children were still in school, and her elderly mother and mother-in-law depended on her. She said she had paid total taxes of RM120,000 (RM60,000 each) for 2021 and 2022.

However, Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) senior counsel Norhidayah Yasin requested a commensurate sentence due to the fact that the RM120,000 paid was a mere fraction of the sum she should have paid.

Nurzihan then ordered Wong to pay a fine of RM18,000 and a penalty of RM2.44 million, to be paid in instalments. - FMT