KUALA LUMPUR: Officials from the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) have announced plans to closely monitor individuals with offshore accounts to ensure they are paying their taxes. Datuk Dr Abu Tariq Jamaluddin, the chief executive officer (CEO) of IRB, stated that this action is based on information obtained periodically from tax authorities around the world.
He emphasized that checks and intelligence operations will be carried out to verify whether taxes are being paid on offshore savings derived from activities within the country. If any indications of tax noncompliance are found, the case will be referred to the audit and investigation team for further action. These announcements were made during the IRB engagement session with the media at Sunway Putra Hotel on Thursday (Feb 15).
In addition, Abu Tariq mentioned that they will also be scrutinizing individuals’ offshore accounts and domestic assets, comparing them with their tax declarations. If there are discrepancies, further reviews will be conducted to ensure that taxes have been paid on their savings derived from Malaysia.
Regarding voluntary tax declarations, he stated that 64,748 voluntary declarations had been made through the Special Voluntary Declaration Programme 2.0, with a total assessment or duty worth RM573.476 million from new and existing taxpayers as of Jan 31. Those who participate in the programme will not face penalties and their declarations will be received sincerely, with no further reviews conducted for income tax payment reports made.
Abu Tariq also addressed the mandatory implementation of e-Invoicing for taxpayers with annual incomes or sales of over RM100 million from Aug 1, 2024, followed by taxpayers with RM75 million and above from Jan 1, 2025, and the rest from June 1, 2025. This staged implementation is expected to enhance the efficiency of business operations and compliance among taxpayers, reduce manual processes and errors, and simplify tax reporting matters. – Bernama
