Douglas Uggah Embas said that he will have a meeting soon with Johari on the matter, The Borneo Post reported today.
“It’s my duty to ensure the policy should be fair”, he said, according to the daily.
Douglas was referring to complaints that Putrajaya appears to be going after non-Muslim religious bodies. Most mosques and Muslim welfare bodies fall under state Islamic law, hence they are tax exempt as government bodies or institutions.
Uggah was commenting on Johari advising religious bodies to write to the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) on the “loopholes” that need to be plugged under amendments to the act.
Another Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister James Jemut Masing agreed it was not fair to tax religious bodies.
“Even if they make investments using the donations, the proceeds are meant for religious purposes. Hence, they should not be taxed at all,” added Masing.
Johari claimed that many religious bodies are actively involved in investments.
“Some of them frequently buy and sell properties by using the religious bodies’ funds,” the second finance minister was quoted as saying in the media.
“These religious bodies also earned huge profits with some paying huge allowances to committees,” Johari had reportedly said, adding that his ministry just needed to have a system to safeguard all public donations.
He said donations should be used solely for religious purposes only, not for making profits.
The amendment to the Income Tax Act 1967 was passed by the Senate on Dec 16 with no objections.
The amendment was earlier passed by the Dewan Rakyat on Nov 23 under the Supply Bill (Budget 2017), which the opposition had voted against as a whole.
The amendments have come under intense fire from non-Muslims.
The crux of the problem, said Association of Churches Sarawak (ACS) secretary-general Ambrose Linang, was the government not consulting religious bodies before proceeding with the amendment to the 1967 Act.
Kota Kinabalu Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KKCCCI) president Michael Lui thinks the government should encourage religious groups to carry out activities for them to be self-sufficient.
Malaysian Gurdwaras Council president Jagir Singh assured that gurdwaras do not pay allowances to their committees.
Kota Kinabalu MP Jimmy Wong urged Putrajaya to exempt religious bodies from tax on their income, whether from donations or business.
Ba’ Kelalan assemblyman Baru Bian described the move to tax the business and rental income of religious bodies as “unwise”.
“The surreptitious amendment of the Income Tax Act 1967 has led to widespread confusion and concern among religious bodies and members,” said the Sarawak PKR chief in a statement recently.