The Inland Revenue Borad (IRB) will focus on dealing with tax evasion activities this year, especially foreigners who conduct business activities in their own name or in the name of Malaysians.
IRB Chief Executive Officer Datuk Dr Abu Tariq Jamaluddin said it is appropriate for foreigners who also enjoy all the infrastructure, security and development facilities in Malaysia to contribute to the country’s income.
“As we know, there are some economic activities of foreigners that are likely to be subject to tax. Therefore, we want to take action to ensure that all these pay tax if they have reached the threshold level where they have to pay tax.
“We make sure it’s not just the foreigners but the people behind them. Many foreigners use the licenses of local people and so on, so we will also check the local people to see if they have complied with the taxation law,” he said on the sidelines of IRB’s Town Hall Session in Kuala Lumpur today (Feb 15).
Abu Tariq said, if there is a tax that the group fails to report, a commensurate penalty will be imposed.
Special Voluntary Acknowledgment & E-invoice Program
Meanwhile, he explained the Voluntary Acknowledgment Special Program (PKPS) 2.0 has almost reached its end with its final date being May 31, 2024.
As of 31 January 2024, the IRB has received a total of 64,748 cases of voluntary declaration with a total assessment/duty of RM573.476 million involving new and existing tax payments. “I would like to encourage taxpayers out there to join this program and consider the benefits it offers including:
a. No penalty is imposed on the taxpayer;
b. Their reporting will be received in good faith; and
c. For years in which income is reported by the taxpayer, no further review will be undertaken by the IRB.
He added under the 2024 Budget, the Government has announced the mandatory implementation of E-invoicing for those with annual income or sales exceeding RM100 million from August 1, 2024 followed by taxpayers with RM75 million and above from January 1, 2025 and others from June 1, 2025.
This phased implementation will give taxpayers enough opportunity, space and time to prepare and the implementation of e-invoicing is expected to help taxpayers:
a. Improve efficiency and streamline business operations;
b. Increase the level of taxpayer compliance;
c. Reduce manual processes and errors; and
d. Facilitate taxation reporting matters.
Abu Tariq explained that the IRB has released the Beta version of the General Guidelines (2.2), Specific Guidelines (2.0) and Software Development Kit (SDK) on the e-Invoicing Microsite on the IRB Official Portal.
