COMPANIES and individuals who do not pay taxes are warned that the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) is watching them.

LHDN chief executive officer Abu Tariq Jamaluddin said the board regularly monitors its data to identify the errant non-taxpayers.

He added that LHDN can take stern action, including conducting searches on premises.

“With companies, it’s always the same… but we do have methods to determine which of them are not paying taxes.

“We receive information from various sources and analyse it all year long to determine which cases need auditing and which cases need investigation.

“This is actually a continuous effort, but we are stepping up the game this year to identify companies that aren’t paying taxes,” he said, as reported by The Star today.

He added that LHDN would take action against those who evade paying taxes.

“In some cases, searches (on-premises) are needed, but in lower-risk cases, an audit is sufficient.

“So for the more serious cases, yes, it is possible it will involve searches,” he said.

Last month, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told LHDN to be firm and courageous in hunting errant taxpayers regardless of their position, rank and wealth.

Last year, LHDN recorded a tax collection of RM183.3 billion, an increase of RM7.8 billion from the previous year.

The board has extended the deadline for non-business taxpayers to submit their tax return form for the Year of Assessment 2023 via e-filing from April 30 to May 15.

It advised taxpayers to submit the tax return form and pay their income tax within the stipulated period to avoid any penalty for late submission of forms and any increase for late payment. – April 30, 2024.