SHAH ALAM: Bubblebee Sdn Bhd was charged in the Sessions Court here on Thursday (Nov 14) with 18 counts of failing to pay service tax, including penalties, amounting to RM1.6mil to the Royal Malaysian Customs Department, Malay language daily Sinar Harian reports.
The beverage company and its two directors - Shuib, also known as Shahmira Muhamad, 40, and Koh Choon Guan, 33 - pleaded not guilty to the charges read in front of Judge Rasyihah Ghazali.
According to the charges, each of the accused faces six counts of failing to pay the tax for the taxable period from Jan 1 to Nov 1, 2023, as stipulated under Section 26(4) of the same act.
The offences are alleged to have been committed at the Sales and Service Tax (SST) Section at the Customs office at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (LTSAAS) branch here between April 1, 2023, and Feb 1, 2024.
They are charged under Section 26(8) of the act, which provides for a fine of RM50,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or both.
Under Section 26(10) of the Service Tax Act 2018 as well as Section 69(1) of the same act, they are also required to pay penalties amounting to RM453,969.42 if convicted.
The prosecution was conducted by Customs prosecuting officers Wan Abdul Rahim Wan Mahamood and Nur Amalina Ahmad Nazeri, while all the accused were represented by lawyer Muhammad Firdaus Shaik Alauddin.
During the proceedings, the prosecuting officer suggested that each accused be granted bail of RM2,500 for each charge, citing the high unpaid tax amounting to millions of ringgit.
However, the lawyer representing the accused argued that his clients had consistently cooperated with the authorities throughout the investigation and there was no urgent need for the court to set bail.
After hearing submissions from both parties, Rasyihah granted bail of RM4,000 for all charges and scheduled a case mention for Dec 18.
On Monday (Nov 11), Bubblebee, Shuib, and Koh were fined RM17,500 by a Magistrate's Court here for seven offences, including overdue contributions to the Social Security Organisation (Socso) last year.
They were penalised after pleading guilty to all charges read before Magistrate Ameera Mastura Khamis.
