KUALA LUMPUR (March 8): To calm public concern, the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (IRB) has assured that there will not be any audit or investigation on voluntary disclosures made through the Special Voluntary Disclosure Programme (SVDP) for more tax payment later.

IRB said in a statement that voluntary disclosures made through SVDP will be accepted in good faith and no audit or investigation will be carried out in the future for the period in which the declaration was made.

IRB has received information from 57 countries on more than 455,000 bank accounts opened by Malaysians. Over 225,000 taxpayers have come forward in the first phase of the programme, which ends on March 31.

“Letters and e-mails to taxpayers with bank accounts overseas are also in the process of being issued by IRB.

“Therefore, the Government calls on taxpayers with overseas bank accounts who receive these notifications from IRB to immediately come forward to any IRB branch to provide clarification and subsequently partake in the SVDP if necessary,” said IRB chief executive officer Datuk Sri Sabin Samitah.

At the same time, Sabin said the Government also welcomes voluntary disclosures (if any) from taxpayers who do not have overseas bank account but still have income derived from Malaysia yet to be reported to IRB.

Taxpayers in this category will also eligible for the reduced penalty rate of 10% or 15%, should they join the SVDP.

The SVDP was launched by the Government last year and runs from Nov 3, 2018 to June 3, 2019. The programme offers a reduction in the penalty rate from 300% to 10% if the declaration is made in the first phase which runs from Nov 3, 2018 until March 31, 2019, and subsequently 15% if the declaration is made in the second phase beginning April 1, 2019 until June 30, 2019.