PUTRAJAYA – Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will file an application to set aside the bankruptcy notice served to him following his failure to pay RM1.69 billion in additional income tax arrears to the Inland Revenue Board (IRB).
Lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said the defence team will file an application to set aside the bankruptcy notice, and stay the bankruptcy proceedings that IRB seeks to initiate.
“We are asking for a stay against the RM1.69 billion summary judgment order.
“We will be filing the necessary documents in a couple of days, seeking not only a stay of the bankruptcy notice but also on the amount being sought by IRB.
“I have been instructed by my client to file all these applications as soon as possible.”
Last Tuesday, the government filed a bankruptcy notice against Najib for failing to pay RM1.69 billion in income tax as ruled by the Kuala Lumpur High Court in July last year.
Putrajaya via IRB had filed the notice in the high court on February 4 against Najib as a debtor.
Based on the notice, Najib has to pay RM1.69 billion with a 5% interest rate per annum on the total balance from July 22 last year (date of the high court’s decision) to February 4, and the total payable amount as of the latter date is RM1,738,804,204.16.
On July 22, the high court ruled that Najib has to pay IRB RM1.69 billion in additional tax and penalties for the period 2011 to 2017 after allowing the board’s application to enter a summary judgment against him.
A summary judgment is when the court decides a particular case summarily, without calling witnesses to testify in a trial.
Najib has filed an appeal against the decision in the Court of Appeal, which will hear the case on June 16.
Pursuant to Section 103 (2) of the Income Tax Act 1967, a person ordered to pay the assessment has to settle the payment to IRB even if an appeal has been filed. – Bernama, April 8, 2021
