PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s sole electricity supplier, Tenaga Nasional Bhd
(TNB), has been slapped with additional taxes from the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) amounting to RM685.82mil and RM705.24mil for the assessment years 2020 and 2021, respectively.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, TNB said the assessment notices received on Aug 19 were similar in nature with the notices received in the past years, which are presently pending in court.
The group said it has obtained an interim stay order against the payment of the disputed taxes.
TNB also stated that based on the legal advice obtained from its tax solicitors, the group is of the view that it has a good basis in law to contend that the assessments were erroneously raised by the IRB.
TNB said accordingly and as before, the group will be appealing against the said notice the soonest.
In May, the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s decision two years ago to dismiss the IRB’s claim of taxes totalling RM1.8bil against TNB. That was the largest corporate tax dispute in the country’s history.
The issue arose when TNB sought to challenge the IRB’s decision made on July 13, 2020 to impose on it an additional assessment of RM1.8bil. The IRB had rejected TNB’s argument that it was a claim for reinvestment allowance (RA).
The IRB contended that the utility giant is not entitled to the RA, granted to manufacturing companies, as it is not a manufacturer but a service provider.
The High Court’s ruling in 2022, in favour of TNB, was of the view that TNB’s business of producing electrical power is a manufacturing activity.
Following this, a three-member Court of Appeal bench yesterday upheld the High Court’s decision and ruled the High Court was right in allowing the judicial review sought by TNB.
