KOTA KINABALU (Bernama): The Inland Revenue Board (IRB) has identified a number of politicians among the approximately 80,000 individual taxpayers and business owners who have failed to pay or declare their taxes and return their tax forms.

IRB chief executive officer Datuk Seri Sabin Samitah said it had issued notices under Section 79 of the Income Tax Act 1967 to the individuals involved asking them to declare their earnings or stern action would be taken against them, including banning them from travelling overseas under Section 104 of the same Act.

“These individuals - including some politicians - are those who have earnings and salaries but did not return their tax forms or did not declare their supplemental incomes like commission, rent and online business,” he told a press conference on the Special Voluntary Declaration Programme here on Friday (Dec 21).

He said 148 taxpayers from various categories in Sabah had owned up to their offences under the programme with the state IRB until yesterday, with the additional taxes and penalties estimated at RM8.1 million.

Sabin said the IRB imposed a low penalty rate of 10 to 15 per cent on taxpayers during the special programme, which would end on June 30, 2019, and would revert to the usual rate of between 80 and 300 per cent from July 1, 2019.

Meanwhile, he said the tax collected in Sabah until November had risen by 1.53 per cent or RM55 million to RM3.666 billion compared to RM3.611 billion for the same period last year.

Also, a total of 1,841 people in Sabah, owing RM130.2 million, were banned from travelling overseas between January and November this year.

Earlier, Sabin witnessed the handing-over of duty between Sabah IRB director Suhaili Sudin and IRB Profiling and Investigation director Datuk Hajam Lajah Alam. Hajam will replace Suhaili from Jan 1, 2019. -Bernama