THE Kuala Lumpur High Court has set April 17 to hear an application by the Inland Revenue Board for a summary judgment for its suit seeking RM1.69 billion in unpaid taxes from Najib Razak. 

Justice Ahmad Bache today set April 3 for case management to confirm all court papers are in order. IRB is represented by senior revenue counsel Muhammad Nabil Abd Halim while Farhan Shafee appeared for Najib.

A summary judgment is a judgment delivered by the court against a party summarily, or without a full trial, based on the available merits of the case. 

The application comes after Najib’s bid for a stay was dismissed last month after the court found no “special circumstances” to stay the proceedings. 

The former prime minister sought the stay pending his tax reassessment appeal.

The suit against Najib was filed last June to seek RM1.69 billion in unpaid taxes, at a 5% interest rate per year from the date of judgment, with costs and reliefs deemed fit by the court.

Najib failed to act on IRB’s initial demand in March last year for additional tax assessments of RM1.47 billion.

This resulted in a 10% hike of RM147 million in April and another compounded 5% hike of RM80 million in May.

The 10% increase was imposed under Section 103 of the Income Tax Act after Najib failed to pay the initial RM1.47 billion within 30 days of the date the assessment notice was issued.

In a Facebook post in July last year, Najib said the sum in question was obtained through donations, which were tax deductible.

Najib faces 42 criminal charges in five cases linked to 1Malaysia Development Bhd, with three ongoing trials. – March 6, 2020.