KUCHING: Malaysian entrepreneurs have been cautioned against sharing confidential information with strangers.
Deloitte Tax Services Sdn Bhd director Phillip Lim said this occurred due to little understanding on practical knowledge in business.
“This shows that we need to strengthen our enforcement and educate on the importance of keeping business transactions in record,” he told New Sarawak Tribune yesterday at the Deloitte Taxmax 45th Series Seminar here.
Illustrating that taxation defaulters often made transactions without records, Lim pointed out that the understanding of the taxation system among the public was low.
“Some taxpayers are sceptical … whether the tax that had been collected was really utilised for public proposes,” he said.
He believed that the lack of engagement between the government and taxpayers, as well as very few initiatives, had them fall into the scam trap.
“These defaulters are mostly involved in illegal activities. In Malaysia, love scams perpetrated by foreigners recorded among the highest cases.
“This often happened to locals in which they were scammed when they get married to foreigners.
“They let these foreigners use their information to apply for loans and open restaurants.
“When the authorities managed to track them, the foreigners would leave them and they become the victims and chased by the authorities to pay the tax,” he revealed.
Lim said to avoid this, businesses, especially small and medium enterprise owners, must not share or let strangers use their personal and business information.
“I strongly advise the victims to lodge reports and discuss the matter with the IRB. This is the best way to mitigate the problem.”
