KUALA LUMPUR (May 10): The Malaysian government has repaid some RM17.1 billion of refunds for the goods and services tax (GST) and income tax, with the help of a RM16 billion special dividend from national oil firm Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas).

"This one-off special dividend from Petronas has started to be paid to the government in stages, and the repayment of tax refunds to the taxpayers has commenced since January," Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said in a statement today.

A total of RM9.5 billion has gone towards refunding GST claims for 76,002 cases, while income tax refunds totalling RM7.6 billion has been repaid by the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) as of April 30, 2019, he added.

"RM5.2 billion has been repaid to 70,205 company cases and RM2.4 billion has been repaid to 1,186,288 non-company cases by IRB," Lim said.

The government had in its 2019 Budget said a RM30 billion special dividend from Petronas would be used to help repay outstanding GST and income tax refunds of RM37 billion. The arrears had been accumulated under the previous Barisan Nasional administration for up to six years of income tax refunds and three years of GST refunds.

"The repayment of these tax refunds demonstrates that the Pakatan Harapan Government did not misappropriate the special dividend from Petronas and is sincere in fulfilling our promise to return the tax refunds to the Malaysian people and companies," Lim said.

He added that the repayment of tax refunds is expected to generate a positive impact for businesses in Malaysia and contribute towards economic growth.

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