GEORGE TOWN, Aug 26 — The Royal Malaysian Customs Department has recorded leakages amounting to RM812 million for the first half of this year.
Deputy Customs Department director-general for enforcement and compliance Datuk Johari Alifiah said the leakages were due to under valuation, tax evasion, commercial fraud and excessive tax claims.
He said the department is now claiming back the leakages in lump sums or through instalment payments from the companies involved.
“We can usually get back 85 per cent of the leakages but some cases could take longer to claim back if these are brought to court,” he said during a press conference this morning.
He said the leakages for the first half of this year had already surpassed half of the total RM1.3 billion revenue leakages in 2019.
Johari said the Customs Department can claim back leaked revenue that dates back six years under Section 100A(3) of Customs Act 1967 and Section 41B(3) of Excise Act 1976.
However, there is no time limit for fraudulent cases.
“All companies and industries must keep records of their documentation for seven years as our officers will conduct inspections and checks from time to time to detect the leakages,” he said.
He added that the department can impose trade bans and other restrictions on companies and industries if they fail to repay the claims made by the department.
“We can impose measures under the Customs Act such as holding the company board members responsible in settling the claims and restricting them from leaving the country to make sure they pay back the claims to Customs,” he said.
Repeat offenders will face thorough investigation before their cases are brought to court, he said.
He also called on companies to make voluntary disclosures if they detected errors and they can then submit a plea for exemption from being penalised for the error.
“If they voluntarily disclose the errors before we conduct the audit, the department director-general will consider their appeals,” he said.
When asked about the overpaid refunds of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) totalling RM4.38 million for 72 transactions revealed by the Auditor-General’s Report 2019 Series One, he said the department is taking steps to reclaim the overpayment.
“We have already collected 42 transactions amounting to RM798,453.64 as of August 3 this year,” he said.
He is confident that the department will be able to collect the remaining RM3.58 million soon.
