Masidi (left) being briefed by Sabah MACC director Datuk S. Karunanithy during a visit to the agency's booth during the State Finance Ministry's Integrity Week closing ceremony on Friday (Aug 18).
KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government is chasing after taxes owed to it by companies that were involved in alleged cases of evasion of crude palm oil sales tax.
State Finance Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said the government was working with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) towards this effect.
“We have started to collect (the taxes) but I believe there are more cases, which is why we work hand-in-hand with the MACC to do it,” he told reporters, after closing the state Finance Ministry’s “Integrity Week” at Menara Kinabalu here on Friday (Aug 18).
But, at the same time, he said, there were some firms that had voluntarily settled their taxes without being prompted by the government.
“Letters of Demand (LODs) by the Finance Ministry have been issued but, of course, as I have said, in some cases (the companies) ended up paying up willingly.
“We actually have a voluntary scheme where if you pay between now and the end of this year, there will be no penalty,” Masidi added.
In one of the tax evasion cases, a former public servant with a Datuk title was arrested over the alleged evasion of millions of ringgit in Sabah's crude palm oil sales tax in May last year.
The arrest of the 66-year-old suspect on May 20, 2022 followed the detention of two state government officials, including a retiree.
On May 18, 2022, a senior official with the state Finance Ministry and a retired senior government officer were arrested in connection with the case.
They were believed to have received RM700,000 in bribes from a palm oil mill in Lahad Datu to “overlook” the mill's falsification of the quantity of crude palm oil produced to evade state taxes worth about RM2mil a month since 2015.
On the issue of whether a RM320.25mil fund promised by Putrajaya to resolve Sabah’s water supply problem was a grant or soft loan, Masidi said he was told it was an “interest-free loan”.
“I hope it would be at 0% interest but over time, I also hope the Federal Government will convert it into a grant,” said the Finance Minister.
Deputy Chief Minister III Datuk Shahelmey Yahya had told the state assembly on Aug 8 that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had hinted the funds would be a soft loan and “maybe at zero interest”.
After a meeting with Anwar on June 1, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor in a statement said he was confident the Federal Government’s RM320.25mil aid to Sabah will expedite its short-term plans to solve the state’s water woes.
On the Sabah Special Trust Fund to place unused federal funds that were approved by the state assembly last week, Masidi acknowledged such funds could only be deposited into it following an agreement by Putrajaya.
“As I said in the state assembly, it has not been finalised because we need the concurrence of the Federal Government. We need some tweaks in order to allow it to be implemented.
“But the fact is that we are ready in Sabah. We have tabled the relevant enactment and it has been approved for the purpose of conveying the message to the Federal Government that we are ready to implement it, whenever they are willing to do it,” he said.
Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli had, during a visit to Sabah on June 27, said Sabah’s trust fund proposal merits a detailed study by the Finance Ministry as it did not involve merely financial aspects but also the effects the move could bring to the federal projects system.
The state assembly unanimously approved the establishment of the Sabah Special Trust Fund as a vehicle to place annual federal development funds that could be withdrawn if unused on Aug 9.
