The High Court in Kuala Lumpur today dismissed Mohd Nazifuddin Najib’s application for a stay of proceedings of the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) lawsuit against him to seek RM37.6 million in unpaid taxes, pending his appeal on the tax assessment.
Lawyer Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee – representing Nazifuddin, son of former prime minister Najib Razak – told reporters that judge Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim refused to grant his client’s application on grounds that there were no special circumstances to warrant a stay of the proceedings.
“The court also fixed April 28 for hearing of summary judgment application by the IRB,” he said after the matter came up in chambers today. Senior revenue counsel Al-Hummidallah Idrus was present for the IRB.
A summary judgment is where the court decides on a certain case through arguments without hearing witness statements in the trial.
On April 11, 2019, Nazifuddin filed the stay pending his appeal on the value of additional tax assessments the IRB required of him.
The IRB filed the writ of summons against Nazifuddin on July 24, 2019, alleging Nazifuddin, 37, still had unpaid taxes for assessment years 2011 to 2017, as stated through the assessment notice dated March 15, 2019.
According to the statement of claim, Nazifuddin’s failure to pay taxes for the seven years, which should be made within 30 days from the date of the assessment notice as stipulated under Section 103 of the Income Tax Act 1967, incurred a 10% penalty.
The plaintiff alleged the defendant still failed to settle within 60 days in accordance with the act, resulting in another 5% penalty, bringing the total to RM37.6 million
On February 28, the high court similarly dismissed Najib’s application for a stay of proceedings of the IRB suit demanding the former prime minister pay RM1.69 billion in income tax arrears.