Apex court dismisses Najib and son's appeal over tax ruling

The apex court denied an appeal by former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak and his son to quash the summary tax judgments against the duo for RM1.69 billion and RM36.7 million respectively.

The five-person Federal Court bench chaired by P Nallini this morning unanimously dismissed the appeal by former finance minister Najib (above, left) and businessperson Mohd Nazifuddin, whereby the duo sought to be allowed to present their statements of defence against the Inland Revenue Board’s (IRB) tax suits.

The duo’s appeal hinged on their contention that Section 106(3) of the Income Tax Act 1967 (ITA) is invalid for contravening Article 121 of the Federal Constitution. Article 121 is in relation to the powers of the judiciary in Malaysia.

Section 106, in general, empowers the IRB to institute a civil action in court to recover tax arrears and penalties from taxpayers.

Section 106(3) specifically states that in relation to IRB civil actions to recover taxes, the court “shall not entertain any plea that the amount of tax sought to be recovered is excessive, incorrectly assessed, under appeal, or incorrectly increased”.

[More to follow] - Mkini