Doctors said IRB was unfair to call them cheats (updated)

UPDATES

This is the latest on this issue,

IRB chief denies labelling doctors as tax dodgers

ORIGINAL POST

The other day, the Inland Revenue Board sorts of officially made it that doctors are the worst cheats in the country,

Doctors make up the bulk of tax dodgers: IRB 

Quite harsh, I think.

Did all those doctors intentionally try not to pay their taxes properly?

Anyway, I think this news would have been cheered especially by lawyers.

Suddenly they are no longer the worst when it comes to cheating people.

Yup, doctors are the worst, according to IRB.

A neurosurgeon hard at work saving life. The guy is my good friend who helps out at a government hospital. He almost quit doing that after being accused of cheating his taxes.

I think the accountants probably cheered too.

Well, I don't really know what to say, okay.

I have never been directly cheated by doctors, but I did lose quite a huge sum of money in the past because of some evil lawyers and accountants misled me (at a fee) to invest in some stupid shares and property purchases.

Anyway, let's be fair and hear what the doctors have to say about all these.

The following is a statement by President of Association of Specialists in Private Medical Practice Malaysia Dr Sng Kim Hock in relation to the matter,

“The Association of Specialists in Private Medical Practice Malaysia (ASPMPM) is deeply concerned and wishes to express its regret over the allegations made by the Chief Executive Officer of the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) Datuk Sabin Samitah that “Doctors make up the bulk of tax dodgers” which were published by the Sun Daily in an article entitled “Doctors make up the bulk of tax dodgers: IRB” on 17.9.2017.

We wish to clarify that over the past four decades, specialists in private medical practice in Malaysia have been advised by their respective accountants, many of whom are retired senior IRB officers and directors to file their taxes under ‘Sendirian Berhad (Sdn Bhd).

However, on 9.9.2016, IRB issued a ruling stating that services provided by specialists in private medical practice are no longer deemed taxable under ‘Sendirian Berhad’, but as a personal income.

This ruling will affect the income of specialists for three years, 2013-2015, and imposes a penalty of 15%.

Prior to the issuance of the said ruling, ASPMP and the MMA had a number of meetings with IRB. 

The outcome of those meetings were that all specialists with their accountants, need to do a self-audit which is based on the new ruling and resubmit their tax returns which includes a calculation of the said penalty, by 15.12.2016, failing which, IRB would impose a penalty of 45% or more.

That led to a massive exercise by many of the 3000 over specialists affected, which led to a collection of RM400 million, as revealed by the IRB CEO in another article published on the Utusan Malaysia online portal on 15.4.2017 entitled “Helah Doktor Pakar”.

It was therefore with much regret that we read the disconcerting statements published in the afore said articles that implied that all specialists in private medical practice in Malaysia are cheats.

The submissions of our tax returns are made upon the advice of our accountants, as well as certified tax agents and consultants, all of whom were approved by IRB prior to the said ruling. 

The allegations made are accordingly incorrect and unfair and we cannot allow such allegations to continue to be raised against specialists in private medical practice in Malaysia without taking the necessary steps to protect our reputation.

Moving forward, we wish to state that our doctors work hard for their earnings and should be allowed an opportunity to address any incorrect allegations. 

We also wish to take this opportunity to urge both the Chartered Tax Institute of Malaysia and Persatuan Insurans Am Malaysia to help clear the good name of doctors.