20% Rise in Tax Collection

There has been a 20% increase in tax collection in the first eight months of this year compared with the same period last year. In 2007, the IRB collected a total of RM74.669bil. This year target is RM77bil in revenue after refunds.

So far, refunds have totalled RM6bil for individual taxpayers, companies and big organisations. IRB usually received about 400,000 refund notices, but only 200,000 to 300,000 were genuine. And 20% to 30% of the refund cases needed auditing.

Another statistic worth noting is that this year saw about 1.2 million people using the e-filing system, compared to about 800,000 last year.
Non believers out there, just try it, avoid the hassle in joining the last minute rush to the agency!)

IRB the cash cow of the nation. The nation can go bust if this agency is not on tip top condition. Worth noting is the high amount i.e. RM6bil of refund! Major chunk is being claimed by the business entities. There surely must be a better system to reduce this amount and thus reduce the refund administration.

In the present self assessment system, the companies are paying taxes monthly, in advance based on projected income for the year. There is a drain on the cashflow especially for SME as the trade collection might be slow.

Our wish is that the leaders and those in the Treasury to make good use of the billion! Yeah, really make good use of the billion for the rakyat!