IRB confirms Finance Minister’s claims of

RM16bil in unreturned taxes

PETALING JAYA: The Inland Revenue Board (IRB) has confirmed

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng’s claims that a total of RM16.046bil of
excess income tax and real property gains tax have not been refunded to
taxpayers for over six years.

It said that the amount involved 1,653,786 incidents involving

companies, individuals, societies, associations and foundations, as of
May 31 this year.
“This postponement of tax overpayment is mainly due to inadequate
funding in Tax Refund Trust Fund (TRTF),” said IRB director-general
Datuk Seri Sabin Samitah (pic) in a statement on Friday (Aug 24).

"IRB confirms the statement by Lim that there was a lack of transfers
from the direct tax revenue collected into the TRFT,” he said.
Sabin noted that based on the TRTF’s constraints, the refund priority
will be given to individual taxpayers.

However, refunds for other taxpayer categories still cannot be paid as no

additional funds have been allocated.

Sabin added that it will consider Lim’s proposal to allow taxpayers with
outstanding tax refunds set them off against taxes payable for the current
year.

Taxpayers who opt for the set-off are required to submit an application
to their respective IRB branches.

Meanwhile, the refunds for those who do not apply for a set-off will be
processed depending on the TRTF allocation as 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 in the following years,” said
Sabin.