Taxpayers swarm IRB office to declare income voluntarily at the last minute

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): Taxpayers swarmed the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) to declare their income under the Special Programme for Voluntary Disclosure (PKPS), at the very last minute before the Sept 30 deadline.

The Wangsa Maju IRB branch was packed with taxpayers, even though it was a working day.

“This programme is very good. Of course for the benefit of the country, we should be paying tax. I only realise today is the last day, so I came here straight away to register and join this programme,” Ang Chuan Shing, 39, told Bernama.

An accountant, R. N. Kumar, 47, who helped one of his clients to register in the PKPS, said taxpayers should know about the importance of declaring their income for the country’s development.

“It should be paid… because the money will be used for the development of the country. Most of my clients were the elderly and running a business.

“The problem among Malaysians is that we always wait until the last minute and this would lead to problems, especially when the online registration system is down,” he said.

Civil servant Kamarulzaman Mohd Khamis, 56, opined that a new approach should be taken to inform the public on the registration to declare their income.

“I only came to know about today being the last day from my friend who works here. I think most people came today because it is the last day,” he said.

On Thursday (Sept 29), Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng was reported to have said that the government would not be extending the PKPS programme as it had given taxpayers enough time to voluntarily declare their income to the IRB.

Lim had previously announced that the IRB’s PKPS which began on Nov 3,2018, and should have ended on June 30, was extended until Sept 30 this year following overwhelming response.

He said that starting Oct 1, a penalty of 45% would be charged for failure to submit the income tax return form and for declaring less amount of taxable income. – Bernama

Source: TheStar