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.
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