CYBERJAYA: The Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) is on track to reach the RM176bil tax collection target this year and may even surpass it, says its CEO Datuk Dr Mohd Nizom Sairi (pic).
"Currently we are at a very encouraging level and I would like to thank the taxpayers who have shown a high level of compliance.
"We are confident of achieving the target announced in Budget 2023 and we hope to surpass it if possible," he told reporters at the LHDN Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house celebration on Wednesday (May 10).
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Under Budget 2023, LHDN is tasked with collecting RM164bil in net taxes from the RM176.1bil gross tax target.
In 2022, LHDN made the highest-ever direct tax collection of RM175.4bil, a 21.75% increase compared to the collection in 2021.
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Asked if the recent overnight policy rate (OPR) hike by Bank Negara would impact LHDN's tax collection, Mohd Nizom said: "It will have an indirect impact but it will not be immediate."
On May 3, the OPR was raised by 25 basis points to 3%, the first hike since November 2022.
This is the first time this year the OPR was increased after being kept at 2.75% by Bank Negara in January and March this year.
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Earlier, in his welcoming address, Deputy Finance Minister II Steven Sim Chee Keong said that LHDN was on track to surpass its tax collection target.
"To date, there has been a positive trend where the collection is 20% higher compared to the day to day collection for the same period last year," he said, adding that the previous record is likely to be broken.
He assured that the government would use the taxes collected for programmes and projects to benefit the rakyat.
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Due to revenue from tax collected last year, we were able to give RM150 to school children for the first time," he said.
The early schooling aid (BAP) was announced under Budget 2023 which saw a one-time financial aid of RM150 credited to every student from Year 1 to Form 5 for the 2023/2024 school year.
