Bar allowed to be ‘friends of the court’ in Najib and son’s tax cases

PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court has granted the Malaysian Bar’s application to be an amicus curiae (friend of the court) in the tax cases of former prime minister Najib Razak and son Nazifuddin Najib.

Lawyer Wee Yeong Kang, representing Najib and Nazifuddin, said the court informed them of the decision in a letter on Oct 21.

The Bar had written to the Federal Court seeking to follow the duo’s challenge against the validity of the Income Tax Act 1967 on grounds that their cases were of public interest.

Wee said the apex court had also fixed Feb 16, 2022 to hear Najib and Nazifuddin’s leave applications to appeal against the summary judgment orders allowing the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) to recover more than RM1.7 billion in tax arrears from them.

They have filed nine questions of law to obtain leave.

Leave will only be granted if the applicants can show that the legal questions are of public importance and are being raised for the first time.

On Sept 9, the Court of Appeal dismissed appeals from Najib and Nazifuddin to set aside summary judgments obtained by LHDN as part of its civil recovery proceedings.

A three-member bench, chaired by Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil, said the Income Tax Act 1967 provided a scheme on how assessment and tax collection should be made.

Karim said that in taxation law, outstanding tax must be paid after an assessment was made and notice sent to taxpayers, within a specified time.

Last year, High Court judge Ahmad Bache ruled that Najib had to pay LHDN RM1.69 billion, inclusive of additional tax and penalties for the assessment years from 2011 to 2017.

Separately, High Court judge Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim ordered Nazifuddin, a businessman, to pay RM37.6 million in unpaid taxes from 2011 to 2017. — Free Malaysia Today