PETALING JAYA: With more Malaysians qualifying to pay income tax, many have expressed dissatisfaction on how the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) was handling data collection for tax auditing.
Tax season is that time of the year when taxpayers in the country begin declaring their earnings for the previous year. Usually, the season begins on March 1 each year, with the deadline to file taxes typically falling on April 30 (for off-line channels) or May 15 (for online submissions through e-Filing).
Suhana Azman, 23, said this year would be the fourth she is filing her tax forms.
“I am an online entrepreneur and a graduate student. I have been filling my tax returns since I was 19 and it has been a breeze.”
However, Suhana said she was surprised to receive a letter from IRB requesting for receipts of purchases she made in 2018.
“I did not know I was supposed to keep those because after I completed my tax filling that year, they never asked for anything.”
Suhana said most of the receipts were already faded and some were missing or had been thrown away.
“I don’t understand why are they asking for the receipts after four years. In my case, I was 19 and I didn’t know I was supposed to keep them.”
Checks on social media also revealed similar complaints by other tax payers.
Mohd Nazeli Ahmad posted on Facebook a suggestion for IRB to develop a mobile app that would allow tax payers to upload and keep their documents and receipts online.
“Any purchases that qualify for tax exemption can be uploaded immediately and automatically in real time for e-filling purposes.”
IRB spokesman Ranjeet Kaur said some of the suggestions received were good ones since it would ease the taxpayers’ burden. However, such execution and implementation requires IRB to consider several matters, including existing laws, capability of the system and most importantly, the cost to develop and maintain such an option.
“Furthermore, for the suggestion to materialise, the important element is to get full cooperation from the business and retail entities to share such details with IRB,” she said.
Ranjeet said IRB was moving forward with the suggestions and will design a tax environment that fulfills the requirements of compliance by design.
“This means that everything is done in real time. For instance, if you file your tax in a certain year, everything will be verified for tax purposes in that year itself and not five years down the road,” she said, adding that the move was aimed at addressing the issue of having to keep records for seven years.
On complaints that further verification of parents’ details were required despite the information being readily available at the National Registration Department (NRD), Ranjeet said it serves to ensure that there were no false claims made.
“It also serves to counter check when there are more than one individual claiming relief for the same parent or parents. This verification is important to uphold the integrity of the tax system and create a level playing field for all taxpayers,” she said.
On data sharing with other departments, Ranjeet said IRB collaborates with NRD and other agencies when it comes to data sharing on taxpayers’ information, but only in areas agreed by
both parties.