Overview

Our firm’s Tax & Customs practice integrates deep legal expertise with commercial insight to help clients turn complex tax and customs issues into strategic business advantages, whether structuring cross-border transactions, ensuring compliance with evolving Inland Revenue Board and Customs requirements, guiding them through audits, or acting in proceedings before the Special Commissioners of Income Tax, the High Court, the Court of Appeal, and the Federal Court.

Our Approach

Our Tax & Customs practice group offers a seamless blend of advisory and dispute resolution capabilities.

We advise on the full range of direct and indirect tax matters, including income tax, withholding tax, real property gains tax, sales and service tax (SST), and customs duties. We work closely with clients to structure transactions, manage tax risks, and ensure compliance with the increasingly complex and stringent requirements imposed by the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (LHDN) and the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (RMCD).

On the dispute front, we are experienced in acting for clients across all stages of the tax controversy lifecycle—from audit and investigation to proceedings before the Special Commissioners of Income Tax, and appeals therefrom up to the Court of Appeal, and further in judicial review applications before the High Court and appeals therefrom up to the Federal Court. We are also frequently engaged in negotiating settlements, advising on voluntary disclosures, and managing strategic engagements with the tax authorities, with a view to mitigating exposure while safeguarding commercial operations.

Our strength lies in delivering cohesive, end-to-end support. Drawing on the firm’s broader expertise in corporate, banking, and dispute resolution matters, we provide integrated solutions that are not only legally robust but also strategically aligned with our clients’ broader business goals.

Publications

• Veerinder on Taxation (6th Edition) (2022)
• Veerinder on Taxation (5th Edition) (2019)
• Tax Guardian

Our Experience

Advisory

• Legal Advice regarding taxability of donations to Clubs, with reference to the Public Ruling 1/2015 – Club, Association or Similar Institution.
• Legal Advice on the applicability of withholding tax in international transactions.
• Legal Advice on the imposition of stamp duty on Scholarship Agreements between MNCs and scholars.
• Legal Advice on the extent and application of Labuan Business Activity Tax Act 1990, the regulations made thereunder, and the Inland Revenue Board’s Decision on companies incorporated under the Labuan Companies Act 1990.
• Legal Advice on whether the disposal of the property is subject to Real Property Gains Tax or Income Tax.
• Legal Advice on whether a Labuan Foundation established under the Labuan Foundation Act 2010 remains taxable under the Labuan Business Activity Tax Act 1990.
• Legal Advice on the applicable taxes for the transfer of listed securities in Malaysia.
• Legal advice on the immunity, risk of liability, and rewards to whistleblowers who expose tax evasion schemes.
• Legal Advice on whether Inland Revenue Board’s Notification should be challenged by way of appeal to the Special Commissioners of Income Tax under s.99 of the Income Tax Act 1967 or by way of Judicial Review, and the effect of accepting tax amnesty.
• Legal Advice on the Special Reinvestment Allowance under para. 2B(a) of Sch. 7A of the Income Tax Act 1967.
• Legal Advice on the liability of liquidators and directors of a dissolved company for claims by the Inland Revenue Board.
• Legal Advice on the Double Tax Agreement between Malaysia and Netherlands.

Disputes

• Dispute regarding the constitutional validity of a ministerial cess imposed under section 35 of the Malaysia Palm Oil Board Act 1998 – whether the subsidiary legislation unlawfully discriminated against large-scale producers under Article 8 of the Federal Constitution or remained within the Act’s purpose of subsidising cooking oil.
• Dispute in respect of whether Income Tax (Exemption) (No. 22) Order 2007 could, by a policy or administrative decision, be declared to cease to apply from a stipulated date without the revocation of the same.
• Dispute in respect of the required income tax exemption under Paragraphs 2–4 of the Income Tax (Exemption) (No. 22) Order 2006.
• Dispute regarding taxability of income received by an employee while on secondment, with reference to the Public Ruling No. 1/2011 (Taxation of Malaysian Employees Seconded Overseas).
• Dispute in respect of income tax assessments raised on the income from the sale of land which had previously been subject to Real Property Gains Tax Assessments which had accordingly been paid.
• Dispute in respect of the taxability of shares received under an employee shares scheme, with reference to Public Ruling No. 11/2012 (Employee Share Scheme Benefit) and a Private Ruling issued to that effect.
• Dispute regarding whether Section 140B of the Income Tax Act 1967 which came into effect in 2014, applies to loans/advances made by a taxpayer prior thereto.
• Dispute in respect of rebates given on the selling price of property and whether the same was part of the disposal price, and whether the rebates amount to tax avoidance.
• Dispute on whether a Resident Consultant Agreement was a contract for service rendering the doctor’s fees personally taxable under section 4(a) of the Income Tax Act 1967.
• Dispute arising from an EPC contract for the installation and commissioning of an export gas compressor on an offshore platform.
• Dispute arising from a Topside Major Maintenance contract involving claims for payment for completed work, termination of the contract and for loss of profit arising from early termination of the contract.
• Dispute arising from the construction of a Lecture Theatre and a Sports Complex for a private college (now university college) in Kuala Lumpur involving claims for payment for completed work, claims for extensions of time and delay damages.
• Represented the subcontractor in a dispute arising a contract for pipe insulation work during the construction and revamp of a large ammonia plant in Malaysia.