ON March 1, I submitted my 2014 income tax BE form via e-filing when the website was made available for submission on March 1 itself.
Based on the submission, I was entitled to a refund of RM19.30, which I thought would be processed within the month, being one of the early birds to make the online submission.
To my surprise, I received a letter stating that the department needed to do a desktop audit before processing the refund. In the letter, it stated that a visit to the department should be made if no refund had been processed within three months of the date of the letter.
After three months, there was still no refund. So, I took time off and visited the customer service counter of the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) and provided them all the details and documents of the submission. Photocopies of the documents were taken and my copy of documents were stamped for acknowledgment.
My income is straightforward as it consists of employment income and dividends. However, to date, I have yet to receive the refund for such small amount.
Maybe IRB is operating with obsolete computer systems or somehow the submission is more complicated than it looks.
Two months later, I made another visit to the IRB office to enquire on the refund but was told to re-submit the documents submitted earlier for reconfirmation purposes.
I was shocked by the requirement but I still made another trip within the same day to produce the documents I had already submitted earlier.
The customer service representative photocopied the acknowledged documents and then re-acknowledged on the acknowledged documents, with the promise that the refund would be processed soon, without giving any time line.
The IRB needs to process refunds in a timely manner for simple tax submissions. Do not go after the petty RM19.30; instead go after the bigger fish.
As for submissions subjected to desktop audit, the conclusion of such a review must be adhered to within the time frame, with the refunds processed sooner.
Should there be any issues, the board should inform the taxpayers sooner instead of keeping us in the dark. My time off and petrol charges incurred are certainly more than the RM19.30 refund.
Surely, something is wrong when the board continues to hold on to my dues.
n NG SHU TSUNG, Kuala Lumpur