IRB denies glitch in its system, acknowledges teachers’ complaint genuine

KUCHING: The Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (IRBM) has dismissed a recent claim that a ‘system glitch’ had led to two teachers facing he y income tax bill.

“IRBM has made some thorough checking and verification on this ma er and found that there were no problems with the system,” said the board in a statement yesterday, in response to a report carried by The Borneo Post on Aug 21.

However, IRBM added that it had identified the cause of the problem, and will make some improvements to prevent the same issue from recurring in the future.

“IRBM is taking proactive action to identify the taxpayers involved and will contact them for tax revision purpose,” said the board.

The statement concluded with: “We wish to express our appreciation to The Borneo Post for providing us the opportunity to respond to the issue highlighted.”

The statement, issued by IRBM headquarters in Cyberjaya, was signed by IRBM Corporate Services Department chief Umi Kalsom Harun.

In the report dated Aug 21, two female teachers claimed that an error had resulted in their annual income figure being doubled or tripled, leading to them being slapped with a he y income tax bill by IRB. The teachers said they had notified the board of the error in their 2018 income figure, but IRB officers insisted on the se lement of income tax payment and arrears.

Due to the said error, one teacher is said to have an annual income of RM95,000 while the other RM120,000.