Toh Puan Na’imah Abdul Khalid, the wife of former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin, has initiated a legal battle against the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) following a significant tax dispute. Accused of failing to declare assets exceeding RM700 million, Na’imah has filed for a judicial review at the Shah Alam sessions court to contest the IRB's recent assessment.
On August 13, the IRB served Na’imah with a Notice of Additional Assessment, alleging that she had not disclosed substantial assets. In response, she filed the judicial review application on August 19, seeking to overturn the notice and halt any enforcement actions.
According to court documents, Na’imah's trouble with the IRB began when she was questioned on January 18 about an increase in her shareholdings in Ilham Baru Sdn Bhd. The IRB alleged that Na’imah used undeclared income to finance these shares, including assets used to secure loans from Welberton Private Equity Corp.
The IRB's letter, dated January 18, 2024, highlighted a substantial increase in Na’imah’s ownership in Ilham Baru Sdn Bhd amounting to RM350,286,407 in 2018. Her sons, Muhammed Amir Zainuddin and Muhammed Amin Zainuddin, were also noted to have similarly increased their holdings. The IRB’s claim suggests that this increase in shareholding was funded by loans backed by properties Na’imah allegedly did not report.
Further complicating the case, the IRB’s April 2, 2024, correspondence listed three US properties that Na’imah is accused of failing to declare. These include:
- Nantasket Beach Resort Hotel in Massachusetts, valued at US$55 million (RM216 million),
- Chauncy Place, an office building in Boston, valued at US$48 million (RM189 million),
- Hotel Buckminster and Annex, also in Boston, valued at US$75 million (RM295 million).
The IRB argued that these assets, combined with the shares in Ilham Baru, should be considered undeclared income for the 2018 assessment year, leading to a substantial tax liability of RM313,820,336.
Na’imah contends that she has not earned any income from these overseas assets within Malaysia, and argues there is no legal obligation for her to disclose these properties to the IRB. She asserts that the American properties were acquired jointly with her husband in the 1990s, long before the 2018 date cited by the IRB.
She also challenges the IRB’s demand for documents related to these assets, citing that tax regulations only require the retention of such documents for up to seven years. Na’imah questions how RM700 million in purportedly unreported funds could have moved undetected if it were transferred from Malaysia.
Additionally, Na’imah points out that she has always filed taxes jointly with Daim, who settled back taxes amounting to RM31,498,069 for 2017 to 2019 in 2023. She suggests that the IRB’s actions may be influenced by ongoing investigations by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), which has also charged her with failing to declare assets.
Tun Daim Zainuddin faces similar charges from the MACC for not disclosing various luxury assets. Both cases reflect a broader scrutiny into the financial dealings of prominent figures and their families.
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