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PETALING JAYA: A summary judgment was entered against a son of Najib Razak to pay RM13.16 million to the Internal Revenue Board (LHDN) in unpaid taxes as there was no problem that could be proven, the High Court said .
Judicial Commissioner Julie Lack Abdullah said this was because the LHDN’s claim against the director of the Nizar company had not prescribed.
The Edge reported that she said the law requires a person who owes taxes to pay before appealing to the Special Income Tax Commissioners (SCIT).
Nizar, who is also the head of Pekan Umno’s Youth division, had taxes due to LHDN from 2011 to 2018.
In her 14-page sentence, Julie said she agreed with the findings of Supreme Court Justice Ahmad Bache, who had handed down summary judgment against Najib, the former prime minister, that he owed LHDN RM1,690 million.
The lawyers representing Najib and Nizar had argued that the SCIT could be usurping the judicial power of the court enshrined in article 121 of the Federal Constitution.
“I will humbly adopt (Judge) Ahmad’s reasoning, where he clarifies the reasons why the provisions of the 1967 Income Tax Act (ITA) do not contravene the powers of the court,” he said.
Ahmad, in his ruling delivered earlier this year, had ruled that the correctness of an assessment is appealable first to the SCIT and the High Court would only make a decision after an appeal.
Drawing on another Federal Court case, the Government of Malaysia v. Ghani Gilong, Julie also explained why the LHDN’s claim against Nizar had not time-barred.
“The claim of limitation based on Section 91 (1) and (3) of the ITA by a taxpayer cannot be considered by the Superior Court.
“Only Special Commissioners (SCIT) have the power to do so,” he said, referring to the 1995 superior court ruling.
She said that Section 99 of the ITA stipulates a taxpayer’s right to appeal, as Nizar’s attorneys had argued that the LHDN had miscalculated in his claim for him to pay the additional taxes.
“I consider that the issues raised by the defendant are without merit, are unfounded and are not issues that can be tried. They must be rejected. The government’s request for a summary judgment is allowed with costs, ”he told Business News.
A summary judgment is a verdict issued by a court for one party against another without a full trial.
Another of Najib’s businessman’s sons, Mohamad Nazifuddin, was also ordered to pay 37.6 million ringgit in July after the Kuala Lumpur High Court issued a summary judgment in favor of the LHDN for taxes owed. between 2011 and 2018.
Najib and his children have filed appeals with the Court of Appeal.
