THE TAXMAN will be able to track offshore account holders who have not voluntarily disclosed their overseas income via the special voluntary disclosure scheme (SDVS).

Deputy Finance Minister Amiruddin Hamzah told Dewan Rakyat today that overseas bank account details are available under the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Automatic Exchange of Information system (AEOI). 

He said the government has taken a friendly approach by implementing SDVS with a low penalty to encourage disclosures of undeclared and under-declared income. 

“However, if they don’t do so, we have the AEOI, through which we have the relevant details to go after those with offshore accounts if they don’t step forward to declare their income. If they fail to do so, then will then have to take ‘unfriendly’ action.”

“This scheme is an opportunity for them to voluntarily step forward to declare their income,” Amiruddin said.

He was responding to Wong Kah Woh’s (Ipoh Timur-PH) question on whether the government has taken a friendly or aggressive approach to encourage voluntary disclosure of undeclared income.

The Inland Revenue Board has received 486,360 declarations of income since the scheme was launched in November last year and June 23 this year.

However, the total tax collected will only be disclosed at the end of the year.

Those who declared their income before June 30 will face a 10% penalty, while those who do so between July 1 and September 30 will have 15% penalty imposed under the scheme.

The usual penalty rate is between 45% and 300%. – July 8, 2019.