Businessman fined RM22,000 for multiple counts of failing to submit SST returns

KOTA KINABALU: A businessman has pleaded guilty at the Sessions Court here to 22 charges of failing to submit sales and service tax (SST) returns for some three years from 2019.

Awang Zainal Awang admitted to the charges before Sessions judge Egusra Ali on Thursday (Feb 16).

The court subsequently fined the 55-year-old accused RM1,000 in default four months' jail for each charge.

This amounted to a fine of RM22,000, in default 88 months’ imprisonment.

Awang Zainal paid the fine.

According to the charge sheet, the businessman, as a taxable person, failed to submit SST returns to the Customs Department between February 2019 and August 2022 as required under Sections 26(1) and 26(5) of the Service Tax Act 2018.

Under the law, the taxable period of SST was two calendar months and SST returns must be filed even if there were no taxes to be settled.

Awang Zainal was charged under Section 26(6)(a) of the Service Tax Act which provides for a maximum fine of RM50,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or both, upon conviction.

The accused was represented by Mohamad Syazwan Shah and Nigel Neong Kaning while Azizah Talibe and Dr Nicholas Marcus appeared for the prosecution team from the Customs Department.

Mohamad Syazwan had asked the court for leniency towards his client, as Awang Zainal was the sole breadwinner for his wife and four children.

Azizah, however, urged the court to impose a maximum sentence to serve as a lesson as well as to deter would-be offenders.

This was also the first case registered under the Service Tax Act 2018, she said, adding that such offences may be repeated if only a minimum fine was imposed.