CYBERJAYA: Records show that no expatriate workers in the country failed to pay taxes imposed on them, says Immigration Department director-general Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud (pic).
He said all expatriate workers had to show that they had fulfilled their tax obligations before they could renew their expatriate passes.
“So far none (failed to pay taxes). They have all complied because this is one of the main requirements for them to renew their expatriate pass to continue working in the country,” he said.
He told a press conference this after a ceremony for signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Immigration Department and Inland Revenue Board (IRB) on information sharing on expatriates here today.
The MOU, effective for three years until 2025, was signed by Khairul Dzaimee and IRB chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Nizom Sairi, witnessed by Home Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz.
This MOU is an extension of the first one signed between the two entities on June 19, 2014 for a five-year period, which expired on June 18, 2019.
Among the data available for sharing under the MoU are names, nationalities, passport numbers, records of exit from and entry into Malaysia, and period of validity for expatriate passes.
Khairul Dzaimee said with this cooperation, the Immigration Department could stop expatriates from leaving the country if they failed to settle their tax dues.
He said IRB statistics showed that taxes collected from expatriates increased yearly between 2014 and 2019, with RM1.06 billion in 2014, RM1.5 billion (2015), RM2.04 billion (2016), RM2.8 billion (2017), RM3.3 billion (2018) and RM3.6 billion (2019).
Taxes collected from expatriates in 2020 and 2021 dropped to RM3.1 billion and RM2.5 billion respectively due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he added.
There are now 162,170 individuals holding active expatriate passes, with 99,200 being principal pass holders and 62,970 dependant pass holders. – Bernama