Your Basic Rights As Malaysian Taxpayer

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Here are list of your basic rights you need to aware as Malaysian taxpayers:
TO CLAIM TAX REFUND If there are any refunds due, you have the right to make a claim for the refund under Section 111 of the Income Tax Act 1967 (ICTA). The claim must be made within six years after the year of assessment to which the claim for repayment relates. From 2012 interest at the rate of 2 % per annum will be paid if the tax refund is made 90 days from the due date for e-filing or 120 days in case the return is filed manually.
TO APPEAL As the law stands you can appeal against an assessment within 30 days of the issue of the notice of assessment and if you wish to appeal beyond the 30 days, then you need to file a Form N together with the reasons for the application for an extension of time which will granted at the discretion of the Director General of Income Tax or special commissioners.

In a self-assessment system the tax return submitted by a taxpayer will be treated as the assessment issued on the day it is submitted. In a proposal in Budget 2014, which was expected to become law from Jan 1, 2014, the right of appeal to the special commissioners will be restricted to situations where the taxpayer has filed his/her tax return based on Inland Revenue Board(IRB)’s public ruling but does not with the views of the IRB, as expressed in the public ruling.
TO CORRECT ERROR OR MISTAKE A taxpayer has the right to correct errors and mistakes within six years after the end of the year of assessment within which the assessment was made. Although the Budget 2014 proposal has restricted the right of the taxpayer to appeal against an assessment under the self-assessment system, the IRB has assured tax professionals that the error and mistake provisions in Section 131 can be used to rectify genuine errors and mistakes on a retrospective basis subject to the six-year time limit.
GET NOTIFICATION You have the right to be notified before your returns are audited and given adequate opportunity and time to provide answers to the queries raised by the IRB.
REPRESENTATION The taxpayer has the right to be represented by a tax agent or a lawyer: These professionals can represent the taxpayer when dealing with the IRB and be present in all meetings between the taxpayer and IRB and provide advice and guidance to the taxpayer throughout the period of the audit.
CONFIDENTIALITY All information given to the IRB officers shall be dealt with in a confidential manner under Section 138 of the Act. Exceptions are where the cases are being investigated under the Anti-Money Laundering Act or where the court orders the IRB to release the information or where the Auditor General needs the information in the course of carrying out his duties.
CLAIMS The right to claim the reliefs, deductions and incentives provided for in the tax legislation is always available to taxpayers and in the event these claims have been missed out an error or mistake claim under Section 131 can be made within the six-year period.
TO BE INFORMED The taxpayer has the right to be informed of the reasons for the imposition of any additional taxes or penalties by the IRB.
INSTALLMENTS The taxpayer has the right to request payment of tax by installments.
TIME BAR Currently the IRB cannot raise assessments beyond five years unless there is fraud or negligence or willful default involved, for example, in 2014 the IRB can only raise assessments retrospectively up to 2009.
The above rights should be invoked by taxpayers whenever needed and the IRB has time and time again reminded taxpayers that it will respect their rights.

For more info contact: INLAND REVENUE BOARD OF MALAYSIA CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTRE Toll Free Number  1-800-88-5436 (LHDN) http://www.hasil.gov.my


Source: Excerpt from an article by S.M Thanneermalai, President of Chartered Tax Institute of Malaysia and Senior Executive director of PwC in SUNBIZ section, TheSun newspaper on Monday, January 20,2014.

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