KUALA LUMPUR – The high court today granted Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) leave for judicial review after the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) claimed RM 1.81 billion in taxes owed.
TNB was slapped with a notice of additional assessment for 2018 from the IRB.
IRB has disallowed TNB’s claim for reinvestment allowance under Schedule 7A of the Income Tax Act 1967 on building of power plants.
IRB said TNB was not entitled to claim reinvestment allowance as TNB did not manufacture electricity but merely a service provider.
TNB submitted that the IRB was bound by the Federal Court decision that TNB was in the business of manufacturing electricity.
Judge Datuk Seri Mariana Yahya has agreed with the submissions of TNB and there are exceptional circumstances that warranted the leave for judicial review.
TNB has also received the additional notices of assessment for the years of assessment 2015, 2016 and 2017 on the same issue amounting to RM4.5 billion.
IRB was represented by senior revenue counsels Hazlina Hussain, Muazmir Mohd Yusuf and Nordiana Sham. Senior federal counsel Aisyaf Fazlina Abdullah Bakar appeared for the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
TNB was represented by senior lawyer Rosli Dahlan and tax law expert S. Saravana Kumar along with Nur Amira Ahmad Azhar. – The Vibes, September 30, 2020