KUALA LUMPUR: M-League or national players should pay their income tax to avoid causing problems to their teams' plans.
This was stated by Football Coaches Association of Malaysia (FCAM) acting president Datuk Ong Kim Swee today.
On Wednesday, Harian Metro reported that there were 243 cases of tax arrears involving the sports fraternity, amounting to a total over RM15.873 million.
Former national coach Kim Swee said, for example, several years ago a player had problems going with the national team abroad for a competition due to travel restriction because of tax arrears with the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (LHDN).
He said the player was only cleared for international travel after making his tax payment.
"It's important to meet income tax obligations, and the good thing is LHDN is always open to listening and accepting a certain mode of payment as long as the obligation is met."
Kim Swee said on matters like making tax returns and the paperwork, most footballers are not well versed.
"When it comes to salaries, we will always have this problem because it concerns individual contracts. The clubs should look into it as well as contracts are always between two parties," said Kim Swee.
"There were instances where clubs had agreed to pay but at the end of the day they didn't. It must be remembered that LHDN will not go after clubs but rather individuals, so they need to be alert of this.
"This has been going on for a while. I urge players to follow up on payments plus their EPF (Employees Provident Fund) too to avoid unnecessary problems."