Najib's son fails to stay proceedings of IRB suit

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): The High Court here has dismissed former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s son, Datuk Mohd Nazifuddin’s application for a stay of proceedings of the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) lawsuit against him to seek RM37.6mil in unpaid taxes, pending an appeal on the tax assessment to the IRB.

Lawyer Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee, representing Mohd Nazifuddin, told reporters that judge Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim refused to grant his client's application on grounds that there were no special circumstances to warrant a stay of the proceedings.

"The court also fixed April 28 for hearing of summary judgment application by IRB," he said after the matter came up in chambers on Monday (March 2). Also present was senior revenue counsel Al-Hummidallah Idrus for IRB.

A summary judgment is where the court decides on a certain case through arguments without hearing witness statements in the trial.

On April 11, last year, Mohd Nazifuddin filed an application for a stay of proceedings of the case pending his appeal on the amount of additional tax assessments required to be paid by him to IRB.

The IRB via the Malaysian Government filed a writ of summons against Mohd Nazifuddin on July 24, last year.

It claimed that Mohd Nazifuddin, 37, still had unpaid taxes for the assessment years from 2011 to 2017 as stated through the assessment notice dated March 15,2019.

According to the statement of claim, Mohd Nazifuddin’s failure to pay taxes for seven years, which should be done within 30 days from the date of the assessment notice as stipulated under Section 103 of the Income Tax Act 1967, caused a 10% additional payment to be imposed.

The plaintiff claimed that the defendant still failed to settle the amount within 60 days in accordance with the Act, and compounded another 5%, bringing the total to RM37,644,810.73.

The amount comprises RM1,780,837.70 for the assessment year of 2011, RM6,604,851.81 (2012), RM6,279,834.41 (2013), RM4,360,278.87 (2014), RM2,074,950.76 (2015), RM2,623,943.76 (2016) and RM13,920,113.42 (2017).

The government is seeking a sum of RM37,644,810.73, with interest of 5% per annum from the day of judgment until the sum is settled, costs and other relief deemed fit by the court.

On Feb 28, the High Court here dismissed Najib's application for a stay of proceedings of the IRB suit seeking the former prime minister to pay RM1.69bil in income tax, pending an appeal on the tax assessment to IRB. - Bernama