KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 ― Federal Islamic authorities today beseeched Muslims to pay their personal income tax to the federal government, blaming tax dodgers for the nation’s economic woes.
In the Friday sermon available on its website, the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) said remitting timely income tax payments was the responsibility of all Muslims towards funding the expansion of the ummah, or Islamic community.
It added that income taxes were an important source of revenue for Putrajaya, which it noted intended to spend over RM260 million under Budget 2015, saying that unpaid taxes were a form of debt that must be cleared.
“Citizens who are in difficulty and the nation’s dwindling economic growth are caused by those who neglect to pay their debts.
“Imagine how much the government loses in income due to the culture of procrastination and tax avoidance. The consequences are that planned development projects will be delayed,” Jakim said in the sermon.
It added that was the duty of every citizen to strive and pay their taxes to improve national and social harmony.
Despite the plea for Muslims to fulfil their tax obligations, Jakim also reminded them of their duty to pay the zakat, or Islamic tithe.
Muslims are given income tax rebates equivalent to their zakat payments.
March 1 marked the start of tax season in Malaysia, with an April 30 deadline for salaried workers to file their income tax submissions for the previous year.
The Inland Revenue Board also recently introduced credit card payments as an option of taxpayers to remit their taxes.
The IRB is aiming to collect RM142.65 billion in taxes for 2015, up from RM133.69 billion last year.
