Najib’s daughter free of tax suit

PUTRAJAYA: Nooryana Najwa, the daughter of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, is free of the RM10.3mil tax suit filed against her by the government.

The Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) has withdrawn its appeal over the dismissal of an application to obtain a summary judgment against Nooryana Najwa.

It is understood that the Court of Appeal has received a notice of discontinuance regarding the appeal. The appeal was withdrawn without costs.

In an Instagram post, Nooryana Najwa said the tax claim against her was settled after her tax agents and LHDN went through the case.

“They finally agreed that wang hantaran (dowry), nafkah (alimony) from my husband and a house fully purchased by my in-laws using funds from abroad are not taxable,” she wrote.

The appeal was initially fixed for an online hearing yesterday.

LHDN was appealing against a Shah Alam High Court decision on Aug 26, 2020, that dismissed its application to obtain a summary judgment against Nooryana Najwa to recover RM10.3mil in unpaid income tax.

A summary judgment is obtained when the court decides on a case, through written submissions, without a full trial and calling witnesses.

On July 24, 2019, the Malaysian government as the plaintiff, filed a writ of summons through LHDN at the High Court naming Nooryana Najwa as defendant.

According to the statement of claim, LHDN said Nooryana Najwa failed to submit the Individual Income Tax Return Forms to the IRB, under Section 77 of the Income Tax Act 1967, for the years of assessment from 2011 to 2017.

LHDN contended that she had not paid the amount of income tax owed including the increases, worth a total of RM10,335,292.36.