KUALA LUMPUR: The 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal is costing the government RM50 billion, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said.
There are many more mini-1MDB cases, Lim added.
“The government has to bear the burden of RM50 billion on just the 1MDB scandal. Since April 2017, the government has been bailing out 1MDB with RM6.98 billion paid and RM1.3 billion is due to debtors by end-2018.
“There are many other mini 1MDB cases that is costing the government and taxpayers,” he said at the National Tax Conference 2018 here today.
Lim labelled the Light Rail Transit Line 3 (LRT3) project as a “mini 1MDB”, saying the real costs of the 37km-project which links Klang and Petaling Jaya were hidden.
He said when he took over as Finance Minister, two months ago, he had discovered falsification of accounts, hidden files and “red” files.
The LRT fell in the category of hidden files, he said, adding that the cost of the project was stated as RM10 billion when it was actually RM32 billion.
In collecting tax, Lim noted the government had to reinstate public confidence that the money would be wisely spent and not go to bailing out scandals such as 1MDB.
He gave assurance to the taxpaying community that there would be no more office raids by the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) officers with firearms on companies suspected of tax evasion.
“The won’t be anymore of such rough-housing, like in the past. Such tactics are only for bad people. We are civilised people and we urge voluntary compliance,” he said.
“Disputes and disagreements are expected and we invite taxpayers to come to IRB, during office hours, to discuss in a civilised and transparent manner. Let's go back to the rule of law,” Lim added.