The Malaysian government has decided not to pursue its appeal case against Najib Abdul Razak’s daughter Nooryana Najwa in relation to a RM10.3 million (US$2.15 million) tax lawsuit.
It was understood that the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) had sent a notice of discontinuance on the appeal to the Court of Appeal. The appeal which was supposed to be heard today was dropped without incurring fees.
However, another lawsuit brought by the IRB against Nooryana is still ongoing at the Shah Alam High Court, according to Nooryana’s attorney Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee.
“Overall, the tax issue has been resolved. In regards to the Shah Alam suit, the trial dates have been vacated but the formal withdrawal process has not been finished yet,” he said.
On August 26, 2019, the IRB filed a lawsuit against Nooryana to recover RM10.3 million in unpaid taxes from 2011 to 2017.
Nooryana has claimed time and time again that the IRB is attempting to tax her for money that her husband and his family have given to her.
In an Instagram post today, the 35 year-old said that her lawsuit has been “settled”.
“We had already settled my tax case after my tax agents and IRB went through my case and they finally agreed that wang hantaran (dowry), ‘nafkah’ (spouse allowance) from my husband, and a house fully purchased by my in-laws using funds from abroad are not taxable.
“Just like my father’s nonsensical RM1.7 billion tax case, the then Pakatan Harapan government’s sole objective was to persecute my family using LHDN (IRB) even if it meant breaking all laws and rules, relying on abusing the ‘pay first, talk later’ clause,” she wrote.
However, the withdrawal of the appeal did not sit well with Malaysians who deemed it ‘unfair’ and said it further proved that Malaysia only cares about protecting the rich.
“If ordinary people owed them RM18.60 also they will come and find you. Please step on a plug.”
“So, the deal to avoid paying your taxes is you have to owe them billions of ringgit. Don’t owe them just a few hundred ringgit, that way your passport will be confiscated. You have to owe billions. Ask your neighbours, ducks, and everyone to do it too so that it would look legit. Swine.”
“LHDN indeed has a bad practice of ‘pay first, talk later’ approach. A bit like a gangster too. Sometimes it won’t stick in court.”
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