This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on January 10, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: The Inland Revenue Board (IRB) has asked IDimension Consolidated Bhd to pay an additional RM406,019 in income tax and penalty.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, IDimension said its wholly-owned subsidiary IDB Interactive Sdn Bhd received via an email a notice of additional assessment for 2013 and 2014. This involved an additional income tax of RM280,013 and a 45% penalty of RM126,006.

IDimension said these were imposed by the IRB with a view that the expenses charged in the two years were not qualified for tax deduction under Section 33(1) of the Income Tax Act, 1967. “In view that the disputed expenses were mainly on documents related to IDB in [the] year of assessment 2013 and 2014, where IDB was yet to be wholly owned by the company, the company will not pursue further appeal with IRB,” IDimension said. In turn, the group said it will apply to IRB to settle the additional tax together with the penalty imposed on IDB in instalments.

IDimension is the latest public listed company to be subjected to additional tax. Last month, IRB slapped AEON Credit Service (M) Bhd with a RM96.82 million bill for additional income taxes with penalties for the years of assessment 2010 to 2016.

Also last month, S P Setia Bhd’s unit was slapped with a back tax bill of RM75.38 million, but the company said it has grounds to contest the notice. In October, IRB slapped Cocoaland Holdings Bhd with RM5.89 million in additional taxes and penalties. In September, EcoFirst Consolidated Bhd said it was sued by the IRB over some RM35.47 million in additional taxes and penalties. In May, the IRB sought RM80.77 million in additional taxes and penalties from MK Land Holdings Bhd’s wholly-owned subsidiary Saujana Triangle Sdn Bhd, while Magnum Bhd and its wholly-owned unit Magnum Holdings Sdn Bhd were served with notices of assessment for additional taxes and penalties totalling RM476.5 million.

In that same month, Country Heights Holdings Bhd announced that its executive chairman and major shareholder Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew’s fixed deposits of some RM126 million placed in a foreign-owned bank was seized by the IRB in relation to RM22.5 million worth of tax liabilities incurred by Country Height’s wholly-owned unit Country Heights Sdn Bhd. The tax liabilities were accrued from the years of assessment 1997 and 1998.

In April, the IRB slapped Tenaga Nasional Bhd with an extra RM2.07 billion tax bill for the 2013 to 2014 tax years. In October 2016, the IRB also went after a subsidiary of Mega First Corp Bhd for RM22.8 million.