Warning to business tax dodgers

KUALA LUMPUR: More cases of tax evasion among businesses will be prosecuted as criminal offences while the Inland Revenue Board (IRB)is intensifying its crackdown on tax dodgers.
With companies resorting to sophisticated methods to avoid paying tax, the offences would be treated as criminal instead of civil cases, said IRB investigation department director Datuk Mohd Nizom Sairi.
He said some companies tried to establish as genuine, transactions purportedly to pay for material used by their business, including setting up fictious companies as proxies to show little profit.
"When we probed the proxies or third parties over the transactions, we found that the so-called companies do not exist and the purported transactions were never really made," he added.
Over a period of three years since 2011, he said 1,761 companies were investigated for evading tax, and 13 allegedly committed criminal offences.
During the same period, RM6.01 million of RM2.02 billion tax revenue was lost due to tax evasion by businesses due to criminal offences.
He said previously, many tax evasion cases were settled out of court as civil settlements but the public was not aware of this as they had been focusing on civil cases by compelling tax dodgers to agree to settlement agreements in writing.
"Starting last year, we began to focus on investigations into criminal offences and this is a major challenge for us, particularly in obtaining evidence to prove tax evasion occurrences," he said.
He said tax dodgers could be charged under the Income Tax Act 1967, the Penal Code (Act 574), the Criminal Procedure Code (Act 593), the Evidence Act 1950 (Act 56), the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010 (Act 711) and other related Acts.
The public could report on income tax evasion cases to the IRB via letter or email to pelariancukai@hasil.gov.my, call 03-83138888 ext. 20601/20607 or go to the IRB headquarters in Cyberjaya and any of its state offices.
The identity of the complainant and information will be kept confidential. – Bernama