Ku Nan withdraws request to strike out IRB’s application

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here allowed former Federal Territories minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor to withdraw his application to strike out the Inland Revenue Board’s (IRB) application for a summary judgment.

Judge Datuk Azimah Omar, in a decision made in chambers, allowed Tengku Adnan’s application with an order for him to pay RM2,000 to IRB.

Present at the proceedings were Tengku Adnan’s lawyer, Bahari Yeow Tien Hong, and IRB’s senior counsel, Al-Hummidallah Idrus.

The IRB filed the application on Sept 11, seeking RM57.17mil in income tax arrears for the period between 2012 and 2017 from the former Umno secretary-general.

Tengku Adnan had also filed for a stay of the proceedings on the suit by IRB pending his appeal for a reassessment of his tax arrears for the period between 2012 and 2017 and the court had fixed Nov 15 to hear the matter.

On July 24, the Malaysian government filed a writ of summons and a statement of claim through the IRB in the High Court here, naming Tengku Adnan as the defendant.

According to the statement of claim, the IRB claimed that Tengku Adnan still owed income tax for the year of assessment of 2012 to 2017 as stated in the Notice of Assessment dated March 15, 2019.

It said the Notice of Evaluation was sent by the Registrar of Acceptance to the defendant on March 20 to his last address and that the Notice of Appeal was received and signed on March 22 by the return of the yellow Registered Acceptance card.

The plaintiff claimed that because Tengku Adnan failed to pay the income tax arrears within 30 days from the date of filing of the Notice of Assessment stipulated under Section 103 of the Income Tax Act 1967, a 10% tax increase was imposed.