An opposition MP has questioned whether the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) has begun acting against “maha kaya” or “ultra wealthy” tax defaulters after the latest auditor-general report flagged the agency for rising uncollected revenue.
Abd Ghani Ahmad (PN-Jerlun) said the 2025 Auditor-General’s Report Series 3 showed that the government’s “Accounts Receivable” had increased by RM5.03 billion from RM39.51 billion in 2023 to RM44.54 billion in 2024.
The report cited the finance ministry, the Prime Minister’s Department and the health ministry as the top three contributors to the outstanding amount, totalling RM43.48 billion. LHDN identified the finance ministry as having the largest share at RM40.38 billion.
Ghani reminded the Dewan Rakyat that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had, in 2023, instructed LHDN to pursue tax defaulters from both small businesses and the “maha kaya”, regardless of whether they were government supporters or not.
“My question here is, who were the ‘maha kaya’ mentioned by the prime minister?” he asked while debating the report.
“Has the LHDN started to track down and raid the homes and businesses of these ‘maha kaya’ who are defaulting on their taxes? Has it blacklisted tax defaulters to prevent them from applying for bank loans?”
Ghani then suggested that the tax agency adopt a stricter enforcement model similar to the road transport department (JPJ), which blacklists summons defaulters and prevents them from renewing road tax until payments are settled.
The LHDN currently imposes travel bans on tax defaulters.
As of Aug 31, the agency has blacklisted 209,000 taxpayers from leaving the country, up from 203,123 last year.
