CYBERJAYA: A total of 408,726 cases have been audited and investigated by the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) so far this year, with additional tax assessments totalling RM7.7bil.
LHDN chief executive officer Datuk Abu Tariq Jamaluddin, who disclosed this, said the parties targeted for compliance action included high-net-worth individuals, the tobacco, liquor and vape sectors, e-Invoice data and information on Malaysian taxpayers’ overseas accounts.
“These compliance and enforcement measures are important in ensuring fairness in the country’s tax system and protecting the interests of taxpayers who fulfil their obligations,” he said at LHDN’s Innovation and Integrity Day celebration.
Abu Tariq said while voluntary compliance is always prioritised, firm action will be taken against those who deliberately evade tax responsibilities.
He said integrity is also fundamental to LHDN’s strength and credibility.
“As an institution entrusted with collecting the country’s taxes, every decision and action taken by our personnel must be guided by the law, professionalism, transparency and integrity.
“Public trust in LHDN must always be safeguarded. The management will neither compromise nor protect anyone involved in integrity-related misconduct or corruption,” he said.
Abu Tariq said LHDN’s main innovation focus for this year’s celebration is the development and adoption of AI technology in the country’s tax administration.
Among the applications developed or currently being developed are HAFY-Tax Assist, a conversational AI-based chatbot assisting taxpayers round the clock; Instrument Recognition and Intelligence Model which can identify the types of documents or instruments and determine the appropriate stamp duty rates based on its contents; and Behavioural Analytics, which analyses the patterns and behaviour of taxpayer groups to enable more targeted monitoring and compliance strategies.
Other measures taken include the Next-Best Action Predictive Model determining the most appropriate tax collection action based on several criteria, and the MyInvois Advanced Analytics Anomaly Detection Model.
“Through this model, more than 7,700 potential cases have been identified as carrying tax risks that require audit and investigation intervention,” Abu Tariq added.
