Individuals with overseas bank acounts are advised to declare their income to the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia. — Bernama pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 ― Individuals with overseas bank accounts and those having previously undeclared income are being urged to report it immediately to the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (IRB).

The IRB said it had begun receiving information, particularly with regards to ownership of overseas bank accounts from September 2018, under the Automatic Exchange of information (AEOI) with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

“We have issued letters and sent e-mails targeting those taxpayers with overseas bank accounts and who have failed to file their tax returns as required.

“Taxpayers in this category are requested to contact the IRB and report their income,” it added in a statement here today.

The IRB has introduced the Special Programme for Voluntary Disclosure to enable taxpayers to make voluntary disclosures of income generated from sources within Malaysia and kept in overseas bank accounts, but not as yet reported to it.

The government has also agreed to reduce the penalty for this from 300 per cent to 10 per cent if the income is reported by or before March 31, 2019 and 15 per cent, if done before or by June 30, 2019. ― Bernama