IRB confirms Lim’s claim of RM16bil in unreturned taxes

PETALING JAYA: The Inland Revenue Board (IRB) has confirmed Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng’s claim that a total of RM16.046 bil in excess income tax and real property gains tax has not been refunded to taxpayers for over six years.

IRB directorgeneral Datuk Seri Sabin Samitah also confirmed the total amount involved 1,653,786 incidents consisting of companies, individuals, societies, associations and foundations, as of May 31 this year.

“This postponement of tax overpayment is mainly due to inadequate funding in the Tax Refund Trust Fund (TRFT).

“IRB confirms the statement by Lim that there was the lack of transfers from the direct tax revenue collected into the TRFT,” said Sabin in a statement.

He said based on these constraints, the refund priority was given to individual taxpayers.

He said refunds for the other taxpayer categories could not be paid due to the lack of funds.

Sabin said IRB would consider Lim’s proposal to allow taxpayers with outstanding tax refunds to offset income tax payable for the current year.

Taxpayers who opt for this are required to submit an application to their respective IRB branches.

Meanwhile, the refunds for those who do not apply to offset the amount will be processed depending on the TRTF allocation approved by the government and the nation’s financial position.

“Taking into account the financial constraints due to the RM1 trillion government debt, Lim is currently trying to find financial resources to enable the refunds either next year or the following years,” said Sabin.

He said IRB was also working with police, who are investigating the case, which has been classified as criminal breach of trust.

Former Treasury secretarygeneral Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah is expected to be at the centre of the investigation as he was chairman of the Cash Management Committee under the Finance Ministry that was supposed to allocate sufficient amounts to TRTF.