THE government has settled RM22.45 billion in tax overpayments in 2025, the highest in five years, said Finance Minister II, Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan.
He said this when winding up the debate on the motion of thanks to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's address in the Dewan Rakyat, today.
Amir Hamzah said the amount was part of the total RM56 billion in tax overpayments paid by the government over the past three years, an increase of 50 percent compared to RM37 billion for the period 2020 to 2022.
"A portion of the RM7.5 billion in refunds was made last December compared to the initial RM4 billion commitment announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on December 6, 2025.
"All cases for the assessment year 2022 and earlier will be settled in 2025. The settlement of this excess tax refund involves 3.7 million cases in 2025 compared to 2.7 million cases in 2024," he said as reported by Bernama.
He said the government also complied with the legal provisions under the Income Tax Act 1967 and would pay compensation of two percent per year for any delay in refunds.
"To date, compensation payments totaling RM23.6 million have been made for some of the refunds settled in 2025.
"As a trustworthy government, the commitment to paying this compensation will be fulfilled and will not be compromised," he said.
In another development, Amir Hamzah said the government had settled all outstanding claims for goods and services tax (GST) refunds.
"When GST was abolished in 2018, the total outstanding refund claims reached RM19 billion.
"All claims have been reimbursed, except for around RM30 million which has not been settled due to certain reasons, including claims still being heard in court or incomplete reimbursement information such as the company's bank account," he said. – February 4, 2026
