THE Finance Ministry (MOF) said today it will lodge a police report on false claims that former finance minister Lim Guan Eng cancelled the tax exemption status of Albukhary Foundation.

It said there were many social media claims that Lim had did it and that the cancellation letter was signed by an employee of the ministry.

MOF said in a statement that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had told the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday that Lim did not cancel the tax exemption as alleged by Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin.

Anwar, who is also finance minister, said the Albukhary Foundation has been approved under subsection 44(6) of the Income Tax Act as an institution established not for the purpose of seeking profit but solely for charitable purposes, and the ministry, either through Lim and/or his employees, did not cancel the approval.

The prime minister said the decision to exempt anyone or any entity from tax is the sole prerogative of the Inland Revenue Board director-general, and not the finance minister or prime minister.

Lim has threatened to sue Muhyiddin after the latter made the claim, saying it was seditious as it implied that a non-Muslim minister had revoked the tax-exempt status of a Muslim charitable organisation. – March 23, 2023.