KOTA KINABALU: A company and its board of directors were fined RM21,000 for 21 counts of not paying service taxes involving more than RM1.6 million between 2018 and 2022.
Sessions Court judge Egusra Ali imposed the fine collectively on Everyday Gourmet Sdn Bhd, Tsen Pai Lin @ Lucy, and Vickie Chu Kim Yee after they pleaded guilty to all charges under Section 26(8) of the Service Tax Act 2018.
All charges stated that the company, Tsen and Chu, failed to make service tax payments (including penalty) amounting to RM1,611,427.45 for the five years.
The offence provides a maximum fine of RM 50,000, or a maximum imprisonment of three years, or both upon conviction.
The court imposed a fine of RM1,000 in default two months imprisonment for each charge.
According to the facts of the case, they submitted sales and service tax SST-02 to the Sabah Royal Malaysian Customs Department according to the prescribed period, but failed to pay the amount of service taxes.
They also failed to pay the penalties for late payment.
It is legally required to pay service taxes within 30 days of the end of the taxable period.
Counsel Mohamad Syazwan Shah Mohamad Ali represented the company and its board of directors, while Customs prosecuting officer Azizah Talibe prosecuted.
The company and its board of directors have paid the fine.