Make the smart move to file and pay your taxes
MEDIA WISELY
THEInland Revenue Board is calling on taxpayers to submit their income tax return forms and pay their taxes on time to avoid any penalties. Taxpayers can do so via the easy, accurate and secure facility under its MyTax application.
What is Let’s Click HASiL?
It is a programme to encourage taxpayers to submit their tax returns and make tax payments.
MyTax is the primary access to ezHASiL services such as e-Filing, e-Register, ByrHASiL and many more, that can be accessed by all taxpayers. The objective of the programme is to:·
• Encourage taxpayers to file their taxes electronically and correctly and accurately;
• Encourage tax payments to be made electronically to save time and cost;
• Encourage taxpayers to use the online services provided by the Inland Revenue Board
• Provide tax advisory services to taxpayers through briefings held virtually in accordance with the new norms recommended by the government.
Taxpayers can get the latest information through the eduZONE quick link at www.hasil .gov.my
Physical Form Submission Date
The Let’s Click HASiL programme runs from March 1 to April 30 for the submission of Form BE (Individuals who do not carry on business). The submission of Form B (Individuals who carry on business) is until June 30.
However, to encourage taxpayers to use the online service, e-BE submission by e-Filing allows you to report on or before May 15, as opposed to physical form submission which is due on April 30.
e-Filing also allows you to report e-B on or before July 15, as opposed to paper form where the submission deadline is June 30.
Refunds
Upon completion of e-Filing, taxpayers can look forward to refunds. For individuals who do not run a business, or those who have employment income, their employer usually makes a Monthly Tax Deduction (MTD) on the salary they receive each month.
The MTD aims to reduce the burden on employees and they do not need to pay their taxes all at once when the actual taxes are calculated.
Taxpayers will receive a refund if the amount of tax paid in advance through the MTD exceeds the actual tax imposed on them. This occurs when taking into account the tax relief or rebate claimed when filling out e-Filing.
The use of e-Filing to report income gives you the advantage of receiving a refund within 30 working days compared to 90 working days for the physical form submission by post or hand delivery.
ezHASiL — Simplify your taxes
The ezHASiL service makes it easy for taxpayers to manage their taxes online. Popular services that are often used are e-Filing, e-Daftar (e-Register) , e-Kemaskini (e-Update), e-Lejar (e-Ledger) and ByrHASiL. With the ezHASiL facility, taxpayers now no longer need to go to their nearest Inland Revenue Board branch for those services.
Beginning last year, the Inland Revenue Board will no longer provide an e-Filing counter at its branches. This is due to the new norms set by the government to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Taxpayers can easily access the e-Filing system through the IRB’s official portal at www.hasil.gov.my> MyTax> ezHASiL Services> e-Filing from wherever they are.
Before using e-Filing, make sure you have registered as a taxpayer. Those who have not registered can do so via e-Daftar. Next, get the e-Filing PIN number through the IRB Customer Feedback Form at https:// maklumbalaspelanggan.hasil.gov.my /MaklumBalas/ ms-MY/,).
Taxpayers can start filing their income using e-Filing once they receive their PIN number and proceed to make payments via ByrHASiL. Assessment and payment details can be checked via e-Lejar and taxpayers update their profiles via e-Kemaskini.
MyTax — Tax Information Gateway
All ezHASiL facilities can be accessed through the rebranded website at https://mytax.hasil.gov.my/
MyTax is an initiative of the IRB to encourage Malaysians to use electronic applications and services to facilitate and educate the community towards the use of technology.
MyTax offers a modern dashboard display and is a gateway to the many online services provided by the IRB. Taxpayers can view their total tax contributions for the last three years and also review information related to travel restrictions.
MyTax also displays the income tax refund process until the refund stage is successfully credited to the taxpayer's account depending on the data submitted when submitting the e-Form for the latest year of assessment. Other information displayed in MyTax is the MTD record for two years of assessment. In short, MyTax provides information at your fingertips.
File and pay your taxes
With these facilities, there is no reason for taxpayers not to file and pay their income tax.
Any inquiries can be made through the Customer Feedback Form or contact the HASiL Care Line at 03-8911 1000. Further tax information can be obtained at www.hasil.gov.my
SHARING personal information on popular social networking sites, such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, has become a social trend where users feel comfortable about sharing their private life. This might pose a risk to us as it will give an advantage and opportunity for criminals to exploit.
In a case in Tokyo in 2017, a man named Takahiro Shiraishi used Twitter to lure suicidal women to his home, where he drugged, robbed, raped and killed them before dismembering their bodies. It was reported that Shiraishi had a flair for sweet-talking young women into doing his bidding.
Social media also affects our mental health. According to the article published last year by Lawrence Robinson, who edited several books on psychology, and Melinda Smith, who has an MA in psychology, multiple studies found a strong link between social media and increased risk for depression, anxiety, loneliness, selfharm and suicidal thoughts.
In 2016, Natalie Natividad, an 8th grader at Hebbronville Middle in South Texas, took her own life after repeated bullying at school and through social media over the course of the year. When text messages or pictures can be sent repeatedly with a single click, victims would experience trauma every time people shared their abused photo or text.
Social media can affect our selfesteem too especially when our insecurities toward others become dominant in our lives. Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and Twitter contain many posts that displayed others’ wellness, beauty, wealth and lifestyle.
A study by the University of Copenhagen found that many people suffer from “Facebook envy” but those who abstained from using the popular site felt more satisfied with their lives. Thus, we need to be more cautious about the amount of time we spend in the cyber world so that our self-esteem would not be affected.
In another aspect, social media can also affect one’s physical health. It seems that everywhere we look, people are glued to their smartphones. Awkward moments of silence and small talk in the elevator with strangers are now gone due to the ability to stare at a screen and look busy.
So, what damage is being done to our physical health for staying connected through social media? Social media could affect our eyesight. Looking at our smartphones in bed is especially harmful, as this direct exposure to light can be damaging to our retinas, which can lead to macular degeneration.
Moreover, prolonged usage of social media also could disrupt our health. Numerous medical and scientific studies have shown alarming results for people who use smartphones for more than four hours a day and those who don’t.
Smartphone users tend to develop rounded shoulders, spinal curvatures, vertebrate disorders, and associated neck pain and headaches caused by these ailments.
Some are even more serious — it can cause carpal tunnel syndrome if we do too much keying that can result in strain on the tendons of our fingers.
As we become focused on scrolling through social media, we neglect our posture, hence altering the muscles and bones in our torso over time. If these conditions are not treated or prevented, it will worsen and may even be fatal.
In conclusion, social media can be either useful or harmful depending on our usage. Therefore, we must to use this platform in the right way, such as turning off the phone when we are driving, while in a meeting, at the gym, having dinner or spending time with loved ones.
AMIRAH ROSLAN
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM)