WHERE DID THE RM18b GO?
Irwan says information can be retrieved from Accountant General’s Dept
“Every sen is accounted for. It is the people’s money, which is why it is much more important to be credited into the consolidated fund.” Tan Sri Mohd Irwan Serigar “If Tan Sri Mohd Irwan says it (the money) is there, we want him to tell us where it is hidden. Maybe he knows something we all don’t.”
Lim Guan Eng, responding to Irwan’s explanation “If there had been misappropriation, whoever is responsible should be made to face the music. He (Lim) made a serious allegation but could not give accurate details.” Khairy Jamaluddin, after lodging a police report
FORMER Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah yesterday cleared the air about the allegedly “missing” RM18 billion from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) refunds account.
He said all revenues, including those from the Royal Customs Department, Inland Revenue Board, Petronas dividends and even police summonses, must be credited into the Consolidated Fund as stipulated under the Financial Procedure Act 1957.
“All revenues that are credited and debited are managed by the Accountant General’s Department. The financial management is being controlled and audited each year and the report will be tabled in Parliament by the finance minister,” he said.
In this respect, Irwan said all money from the GST collection would be accounted for, stressing there would be no missing funds unlike what had been claimed.
“Every sen is accounted for. It is the people’s money, which is why it is much more important to be credited into the Consolidated Fund. When it is needed (including for input tax credit under GST), (only) then it will be taken out (from the Consolidated Fund),” he said yesterday.
Under the GST regime, the input tax credit permits businesses to claim credit for taxes paid on purchases after submission of proper documents.
The Treasury would allocate the amount for the Customs Department’s input tax credit under GST based on what the department had asked for and on the government's financial position, Irwan added.
He said each month, the Federal Government would conduct a cash flow management meeting chaired by the Treasury secretary-general.
“The Customs Department will table its need for GST refunds in the meeting,” he said.
He said the Customs Department had made refund payments of RM23 billion, which was more than 34 per cent from the GST collection last year.
“Outstanding payment is learnt to be at RM15 billion for last year, which will require verification, investigations and auditing processes.”
He said if the claim for GST refund was made clearly , without any fraud, the Customs Department would make the refund payment within 14 days.
“Otherwise, if there is suspected element of fraud in input tax claims cases, it will take a longer time to conduct investigations and further auditing,” he said.
All of such information, Irwan said, could be retrieved from the Accountant General’s Department and the Finance Ministry’s Fiscal Division.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng had on Wednesday alleged that about RM18 billion, or 93 per cent of the RM19.4 billion input tax credit under the GST system since 2015, had gone missing.
He said based on the Customs records, only RM1.5 billion remained in the trust fund (where GST refunds were supposed to be deposited by the government).
Lim had accused the Barisan Nasional government of stealing the GST input tax credit that was supposed to be returned to businesses.
Asked if he would lodge a report against the finance minister for making such allegations, Irwan said his friends had advised him to consider it.
“But, I have no plans to do so for now, especially when (Rembau MP) Khairy Jamaluddin has lodged a report on the matter.
“For me, I am ready to cooperate with the authorities if the need arises,” said Irwan.