KUALA LUMPUR: Tun Daim Zainuddin's wife, Toh Puan Na'imah Abdul Khalid, has filed a judicial review application to quash the Inland Revenue Board's (IRB) claims that she allegedly had not settled assessment worth over RM313 million.
Na'imah, as the applicant, who named the IRB director-general as respondent, described the agency's decision to raise the impugned Notice of Additional Assessment for 2018 on Aug 13 this year, as tainted with illegality, impropriety, irrationality, abuse of process and erroneous.
In her affidavit in support, the 67-year-old said the assessment raised against her was following an over RM700 million in alleged unreported income in 2018, which she said was based solely on baseless accusations.
She said in January this year, the respondent had enquired on the increase of her shares in Ilham Baru Sdn Bhd, contending that the three units of assets used to set off the loan between Ilham Baru Sdn Bhd, Ilham Tower Sdn Bhd and Welberton Private Equity Corp were acquired using her unreported income.
Na'imah said her lawyers had explained to the respondent that they were foreign assets and not under its purview as income tax law in Malaysia works on a territorial basis.
"The respondent stated that regardless of where the income arises, as long as I am a Malaysian citizen and a tax resident here, I am subject to tax audit relating to all my sources of income and assets pursuant to the Income Tax Act 1967.
"The respondent took the purported total market value of the three units of assets, amounting to RM700,572,811 to be my unreported income in 2018.
"It further alleged that the amount will be adjusted into my tax computation for the 2018 assessment as income that was not reported to the respondent.
"On Aug 13, the respondent raised the impugned Notice of Additional Assessment for YA 2018 amounting to RM313,820,336.13," she said.
She said the entire tax audit process appeared to be undertaken maliciously as the respondent failed to follow the proper tax audit guidelines and it is unlawful, invalid, null and void and/or in excess of authority.
"The IRB's decision has arbitrarily created a substantial tax liability amounting to RM313,820,336.13, when in the first place, the respondent's conduct in raising the impugned assessment is tainted with illegality.
"The amount of tax in the assessment is wrongfully imposed on me and the said sum is large and burdensome.
"I pray for the applicability of the assessment be stayed until the final and full determination of this judicial review application," said Na'imah in her application filed via law firm Rosli Dahlan Saravana Partnership at the Shah Alam High Court on Aug 19.
She also said the respondent had failed to pay out to her RM3.807 billion in tax refunds for 2017 and prior.
The court, she said, should bear in mind the possibility of arbitrary or incorrect assessments brought about by fallible officers who had to fulfil the collection of certain publicly declared targeted amount of taxes and whose assessments, as a result, might be influenced by the target to be achieved rather than the correctness of the assessment.
In January, Na'imah and Daim, 86, were separately charged with the alleged failure to abide by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's notice to declare their assets.
Daim had allegedly failed to declare his assets such as one bank account, seven luxury vehicles, 38 companies, and 25 properties at the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya on Dec 13, last year.