Professionals Will Be Audited By IRB Soon

Architects, lawyers and engineers will soon face an income tax audit as the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) launch an audit operation on professionals in September or October.

According to IRB chief executive officer Datuk Sabin Samitah, some of these professionals are to not declare their income, based on risk analysis, third-party information and analysis by Bank Negara Malaysia

“I would like to advise these professionals to come forward now and make a voluntary declaration of their income,” Sabin said.

When asked about the IRB’s target of collecting a total of RM127.7 billion in tax this year, Sabin said it was achievable. However, there are several restrictions which could affect the tax collection target negatively, such as the announcement of a 1% reduction in the tax rate.

“Another restriction is in the petroleum tax collection. It is estimated that IRB will get RM8bil from petroleum tax, but we have only managed to get RM3bil so far, and this is a challenge for us,” he added.

The IRB’s tax collection so far is recorded at RM75.7 billion this year, which is an increase of 2.72% compared to the same period last year.

[Source]