High Court dismisses Najib Razak and son’s appeal to stay bankruptcy proceedings initiated by IRB over RM1.69 billion and RM37.6 million tax arrears
KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court dismissed Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and his son Datuk Mohd Nazifuddin’s appeal to stay bankruptcy proceedings against them.
Judicial Commissioner Suhendran Sockanathan@Saheran Abdullah ruled that no additional harm justified granting the stay.
“In these circumstances, both appeals are dismissed with costs of RM7,000 each,” said Suhendran.
The Inland Revenue Board initiated bankruptcy proceedings over their failure to settle tax arrears of RM1.69 billion and RM37.6 million respectively.
On October 16, 2023, the Federal Court ruled that the former prime minister and his son must settle their outstanding taxes.
That decision dismissed their appeal to overturn the High Court’s earlier ruling.
The court ordered both appellants to pay RM30,000 in costs to the IRB.
Justice Datuk Abu Bakar Jais, who chaired the three-member panel, stated that the court found no merit in the application to postpone the tax collection process.
Najib faces RM1.69 billion in additional tax assessments for the years 2011 to 2017, while Nazifuddin owes RM37.6 million for the same period.
Senior revenue counsel Al-Hummidallah Idrus, representing the IRB, confirmed the court’s decision.
IRB lawyer Datuk Suhendran Thavalingam argued that tax assessment merits fall under the Special Commissioner for Income Tax’s (SCIT) jurisdiction.
“The claims by Datuk Seri Najib and Nazifuddin regarding time limits, inaccurate calculations and political donations relate to tax appeal merits and should be decided by the SCIT,” he said.
Suhendran emphasized this aligns with Malaysia’s long-standing “pay first, dispute later” tax collection concept under the Income Tax Act.
He dismissed arguments that pending SCIT appeals should justify adjournment, stressing such appeals don’t suspend tax collection.
Lawyer Wee Yeong Kang, representing both appellants, said he would file an appeal against today’s decision.
Najib and Nazifuddin are appealing against High Court decisions allowing the IRB’s application for summary judgment in their tax arrears cases.
Two separate High Courts granted the IRB’s application to recover tax arrears from the father and son for assessment years 2011 to 2017.
Both lost their appeals to set aside these judgments at the Court of Appeal in September 2021.
The Federal Court granted them leave to appeal the matter further on May 10, 2022. – Bernama
