KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Pakatan Harapan leaders received assurances that the Federal Government would reveal the amount of revenue collected from the state when they decided to withdraw the suit against the latter.
Kota Kinabalu MP Datuk Chan Foong Hin said knowing the quantum of the revenue earned from Sabah would enable both the state and Federal Government to work out the 40% to be returned to the state.
"We have demanded that the Federal Government disclose the total revenue collected from Sabah via the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) to facilitate the calculation of the 40% revenue sharing payable under Article 112D of the Federal Constitution," he said in a statement posted on Facebook on Monday (Oct 9).
Article 112D of the Federal Constitution provides for the Federal Government to return 40% of the revenue collected from Sabah back to the state.
Chan, who is Deputy Agriculture and Food Security Minister, said Sabah Government had been unable to enforce this Constitutional provision as it did not know how much revenue the Federal Government had collected.
He said the next significant step is to table the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia Act Amendment Bill to expand the LHDN board membership to include representatives from Sabah and Sarawak.
Chan said that Sabah would then be able to ascertain the amount of taxes (income tax, stamp duty, corporate tax, etc) collected.
Chan said he hoped that the Bill would get the full support of both Government and Opposition MPs as it further strengthens Sabah and Sarawak rights under MA63.
On Sept 20, 12 Sabah Pakatan leaders withdrew their suit against the Federal Government that sought, among others, for the Federal Government to reveal the amount of revenue obtained from Sabah.
The suit was filed on June 3, 2022, when they were still in the Opposition and Sabah Pakatan leaders said that the decision to withdraw was because there was more progress achieved towards getting back state rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim recently thanked them for withdrawing the suit but other political parties here questioned the withdrawal as there had been no substantial return of state rights.
