SEBERANG PERAI, Sept 18 — The Income Revenue Board (IRB) is targeting more than RM7 billion in tax collections in Penang this year.
State IRB director Norfaidah Daud said the tax collection in Penang was about RM6.8 billion last year.
“Our KPI this year is to collect about RM7 billion in taxes in Penang,” she told reporters after officiating a Lawatan Konsultasi Hasil (LKH) programme at Menara Hasil Lokaliti Bukit Mertajam here today.
She said last month, Penang contributed 4.78 per cent of the country’s total tax collection.
“Penang ranked second for the highest tax collection in the country after Sarawak,” she said.
When asked about tax evaders in Penang, she said a majority of the tax evaders in the state are sole proprietors.
“Sole proprietors have the highest non-compliance rate as compared to other business entities,” she said.
She said other business entities mostly have their accounts prepared by accountants so their compliance rates are better.
“We have difficulties getting sole proprietors to come forward because their accounts were not in order,” she said.
She said the Lawatan Konsultasi Hasil (LKH) is one of the ways to reach out to taxpayers and spread awareness of the IRB’s special voluntary disclosure programme (SVDP) 2.0.
IRB officers will be visiting 215 premises over the next four days under the LKH programme.
Among the targets were sole proprietors who have yet to register to declare their taxes.
“We are trying to get more taxpayers to register under SVDP 2.0,” she said.
She gave assurances to taxpayers that SVDP 2.0 will not be used by IRB to investigate their income in previous years.
