‘Guan Eng must have cancelled tax exemption since next finance minister allowed appeal’

KUALA LUMPUR – Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said Yayasan Albukhary’s tax-exempt status had been cancelled during the tenure of former finance minister Lim Guan Eng because an appeal was made that was subsequently approved by Lim’s successor, Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz. 

Muhyiddin said this in his statement of defence to a defamation suit filed by Lim, Malay Mail Online reported.

The news portal, which sighted the Perikatan Nasional chairman’s defence statement filed in court today, cited Muhyiddin’s statement that Yayasan Albukhary had been tax exempted during the Barisan Nasional administration.

However, Muhyiddin also claimed that this status was not honoured during the time of Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) administration, when Lim was finance minister.

After the PH government, the next prime minister Muhyiddin said he received a letter from Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary addressed to the Prime Minister’s Office, appealing against the IRB’s decision not to honour the tax exemption.

Muhyiddin also said he sighted a letter from the Finance Ministry to Syed Mokhtar “sometime in 2021” to inform the latter that his appeal against the removal of the tax exemption had been allowed.

By this time, Tengku Zafrul was the finance minister.

As such, Muhyiddin’s statement of claim said he, as the defendant, drew “an inference” and conclusion that the tax exemption had earlier been cancelled, “or else there would be no need for an appeal” that the Finance Ministry under Tengku Zafrul had allowed in 2021.

Lim filed his defamation suit against Muhyiddin, who is Bersatu president and Pagoh MP, on March 27.

Muhyiddin made his allegation against Lim after being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, and repeated them in statements published on Facebook.

Last month, he was charged with four counts of abuse of power over  RM232.5 million in alleged bribes from companies that went to Bersatu’s accounts, and also three charges of alleged money laundering of RM200 million. 

Lim, meanwhile, said Muhyiddin’s claims against him had created the impression that he was racist, anti-Malay, and anti-Islam and that he had deliberately sabotaged Yayasan Albukhary by refusing to allow tax exemptions for the foundation. – The Vibes, April 26, 2023