CYBERJAYA, March 21 – The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who insisted that taxes must be paid by those who are taxed, wants the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) to investigate individuals or companies that try to find tricks to avoid paying them. Speaking to inaugurate the 27th Revenue Day Celebration here tonight, Anwar who is also the Minister of Finance said that the action is aimed at ensuring that those who are obliged to pay income tax do not evade or escape legal claims.
I deliberately expressed this to give encouragement to the effort that as long as I am entrusted to lead the government, I want the people whether small traders or the ‘very rich’ to obey the law and not escape from paying income tax. I am giving this prompt so that no one thinks that whether they are my acquaintances or not, my supporters or not, taxes must be paid and the IRB must search and look for tricks (avoid paying taxes),” he said.
Anwar said, if the effort can be implemented well, then the performance of the country’s revenue will continue to increase and even better than in previous years. Recalling when he held the position of Minister of Finance in the 1990s, Anwar said that the Inland Revenue Department at that time, before being upgraded to the IRB, faced difficulties in collecting taxes especially from big figures including the main “VVIPs” who refused to pay taxes. I said it’s a bit strange, a sovereign independent country has rules and laws, can the ‘very rich’ refuse to pay (taxes).
So I issued a statement from the Department of Internal Revenue at that time, that I was on the side of the officers of the department to ensure that people who are obliged to pay taxes must do so without negligence. I am satisfied even though I faced difficulties because I had given such a warning, the performance of the IRB after that was much improved. The people who previously refused to (pay taxes) mostly admitted defeat and continued to obey the rules,” he said. Anwar meanwhile said the IRB needs to strengthen its role and responsibility so that the performance of national revenue collection continues to improve.
