Maybe believe that they will not face consequences by the law for not paying their income tax, but this appears to be untrue! If you have yet to settle your tax arrears, it looks like you won’t be able to travel overseas anytime soon.
The Inland Revenue Board has implemented travel restrictions on 182,666 Malaysians with tax arrears as of February 29, 2024. According to a report by BERNAMA, Deputy Finance Minister Lim Hui Ying said that from the total numbers, 171,571 cases involve individuals with income tax arrears while the remaining 11,095 cases involve individuals with Real Estate Gains Tax arrears.
She added that, generally, before any travel restrictions are enforced, LHDN will take preliminary action against these individuals by sending reminder letters, notifications email and conducts attempts to contact to demand the payment of tax arrears. “Failure to settle tax arrears within the stipulated period will result in taxpayers facing restrictions in travelling abroad,” she explained.This comes after Senator Datin Ros Suryati Alang questioned the statistics on the number of travel restriction cases implemented by LHDN on those who have not cleared payments on their tax arrears.