On this episode, our Managing Director, Mr Thanneermalai Somasundaram talks about the troubles taxpayers who participated in the SVDP program without a basis may face.

Video Transcription

Currently in the news there is a lot of discussions about the tax authorities and the government going back on their words on the SVDP cases. The previous government, during Lim Guan Eng, the former Finance Minister promised that when you volunteer yourself under the scheme and you volunteer to pay the taxes that you believe you may not have paid in the past, the authorities will take it in good faith and not come back to you on that matter at all. All the years are closed up to 2017. But now what we hear lately from the newspaper, the tax authorities are actually looking at some of the SVDP cases that have been filed previously.

Why are they looking at it? Because many of the SVDP were done on a basis that they gave a sum of money to the tax authorities and said I pay you RM100,00, I pay you RM10,000, I pay you RM300,000 and they are not even sure but they said maybe I didn’t declare the supply amount. So that was no basis for it and that’s a problem. I think what are the authorities doing now is they are saying “Look. I have the right to at least examine the SVDP and see whether there is some accuracy and whether there is some authenticity. What is the basis of that?” My reading of the situation which I never get involved. My SVDP was done with the basis. We have a basis. We knew why we were doing it. We have all the numbers behind it and we have substance. The people who are going to have the problem are those who went and handed over a sum of money to the tax authorities and said that it is for my past taxes. That to me is perhaps a mistake the tax authorities or the previous government has actually made.

In my opinion, they should not accept that kind of SVDP. They should have set what is the basis for you to give me a sum of money. My feeling is monies that have been given that way is a real danger that you are actually thrown salt into sea. Now the tax authorities may have the right to re-examine it. It is a question and I think it is going to be decided ultimately in the court because the authorities said that they will not go back on their word and now they are examining it whether the court will say that the tax authorities are not correct in doing it or the tax authorities have the right to do it. So that is a debatable issue. Unfortunately, for those who did it without a basis, I am afraid there is trouble ahead of you.

Thank you.