By Neil Brian Joseph
Customs going after 500 'stubborn' defaulters
KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Royal Malaysian Customs Department will be conducting a stale-level Ops Kutip Hasil, starting from August 3 to 31, in its quest to collect a total of RM30 million in arrears from 500 "stubborn" defaulters.
Its director, Datuk Dr Haji Janathan Kandok said that a total of 40 ABT enforcement officers from his department would be collecting the unpaid taxes under the operation dubbed 'Ops Kutip Hasil 30 Juta 500 Penghutang Peringkat Sabah'.
Janathan dislosed that in fact there were a total of 1,970 registrants with 5,796 claims under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act 2014, which amounted to RM105,708,298.56.
"1,192 of them are from Kota Kinabalu and Kudat, 109 are from Keningau, 192 are from Lahad Datu, 295 are from Sandakan and 182 are from Tawau," Janathan said at the launch of the Ops Kutip yesterday.
It was understood that some of these taxes have been accumulated for over two years.
However, for this particular Ops Kutip, the Customs Department would only be focusing on the 500 debtors who owed RM30 in million arrears as the department was unable to confront these debtors all at once, Janathan said.
Janathan added that his department would eventually deal with the remaining number of debtors when the right time comes.
"The Customs Department will be working with the National Registration Department (JPN), Insolvency Department, Companies Commission of Malaysia and numerous local authorities.
"We will be going to each of these debtors' premises to confront them and to collect their unpaid taxes.
"We have also opened civil investigation papers against the 500 debtors and in the event, these debtors fail to pay, a legal action will taken against them," Janathan added.
He said a majority of the debtors comprised companies involved in restaurants, construction, transportation, hardware and retails.
He added that the 500 companies comprised Sdn Bhd, Partnerships and Sole Proprietorships.
Thus, Janathan urged the debtors to give their full cooperation and to settle their debts to avoid the possibility of their names being blacklisted by the Customs Department.
Also present in the event was Ops Kutip Hasil chief cum Sabah Customs Deputy Director (Enforcement Department) Mohd Shahrin Mohd Dom.