PUTRAJAYA – Datuk Mohamad Nizar Najib, the son of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, has recorded a consent order with the special commissioners of income tax (SCIT) over the payment of tax arrears.
Following this, the 43-year-old businessman will withdraw his appeal at the Court of Appeal against a high court decision granting a summary judgment in the suit filed against him by the Inland Revenue Board (IRB).
His lawyer Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee confirmed the matter to Bernama.
Wee Yeong Kang, another counsel acting for Nizar, said the consent order was recorded before SCIT on August 26.
He said the order recorded is in relation to an additional tax assessment for the assessment years 2011 to 2017, inclusive of 10% and 5% penalties amounting to RM13,159,821.94.
“Nizar will withdraw his appeal at the Court of Appeal. We have emailed the notice of discontinuance (NoD) to the IRB litigation branch at the Kuala Lumpur office today, and will file the NoD as soon as it is approved by the IRB litigation branch.”
The matter came up for case management before Court of Appeal deputy registrar Mariam Hasanah Othman today.
Wee appeared for Nizar, while senior revenue counsel Muhammad Nabil Abdul Halim attended.
Wee said the next case management has been fixed for September 9 to provide an update on the status of the NoD.
On August 7 last year, the Shah Alam High Court allowed IRB’s application for a summary judgment against Nizar and ordered him to pay RM13.16 million in unpaid taxes for the assessment years 2011 to 2017.
He then filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal.
A summary judgment is where a court decides a case through arguments without hearing the testimony of witnesses.
In her judgment, judicial commissioner Julie Lack Abdullah said the matters raised by Nizar are devoid of merit and do not constitute triable issues.
She is of the view that a taxpayer must pay his taxes regardless of his dissatisfaction with the amount, or for any other reason.
It was reported on May 31 that Nizar had agreed to settle taxes owed to IRB. – Bernama, September 3, 2021
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