Audits no longer a chance game

Tax audits are increasing in frequency and intensity. The consequences, if one is not prepared, can be very costly since the penalty for income tax of at least 45% has become the norm whenever there are tax adjustments. From 2018, the penalty will be increased to 100%. The recent joint announcement That Royal Malaysian Customs Department (Customs) and the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) will jointly undertake audits on all companies in the country in an effort to plug leakages in the system, shows the increasing seriousness of the government to go after the tax defaulters. The "wait and see if they catch me" approach in the current climate is not advisable.

New Chiefs - New Approach

Both IRB and Customs have new chiefs. Both gentleman, Datuk Seri Subromaniam Tholasy and Datuk Sabin Samitah, were appointed about eight months ago. From the very beginning they have been very focused on harnessing their resources towards increasing the number of tax audits and using data analytics to pick cases such that their level of accuracy identifying tax defaulters is significantly increased. Read more >>>