CYBERJAYA, May 12 — The Inland Revenue Board (IRB) will carry out cross-checks using the latest database containing information from 11 government agencies in a bid to combat fraud as it considers appeals from rejected applicants of Bantuan Prihatin Nasional (BPN).

IRB chief executive officer and director-general Datuk Seri Sabin Samitah said the agencies included the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM), Employees Provident Fund, Bank Negara Malaysia and the National Registration Department (NRD).

"These checks are done to prevent fraud by irresponsible parties. For example, we can identify applicants that own companies and the database will show if their companies are active based on banking transactions,” he said during an interview session with the media today.

Rejected BPN applicants, especially involving individuals whose companies are registered with SSM, can appeal at any IRB branch or via online.

Sabin said those who wished to appeal could just go to any IRB branch and fill in an appeal form with supporting documents attached as financial proof.

For appeals by those with SSM registration, he said the IRB advised them to file their respective income tax return forms in order to avoid another rejection.

"Making an income declaration to the IRB does not mean someone will be automatically taxed. This is because a business has certain revenue and expenditures that are eligible for tax deduction, with only the profits being taxed,” he said.

Sabin said for those who had lost their jobs either this year or last year, they must submit the termination letter and their last payslip when making an appeal.

"This is due to the IRB using taxation records for year of assessment 2018 and the related government database. We are unable to use the 2019 records as the tax declaration period has not closed; in fact, it has been extended further due to Covid-19,” he explained.

For cases in which the applicants were wrongfully categorised as deceased, Sabin said these were isolated cases and the data were from the NRD.

"An affected individual can lodge an appeal with the IRB to get the BPN aid. However, he must also go to the NRD to correct the information,” he said.

Earlier this month, the Finance Ministry said as of May 10, the total number of approved BPN recipients stood at 10.6 million, with a cumulative disbursement of RM11 billion — an increase of RM1 billion on top of the initial allocation of RM10 billion.

The BPN appeal period, which was initially scheduled to end on April 30, has also been extended to May 31. Applicants who were rejected earlier and want to appeal can send emails with the relevant documents to rayuanbpn@hasil.gov.my or go to any IRB counter nationwide. — Bernama