“The finance ministry, whether through the former finance minister or the ministry’s officials, has not cancelled any tax exemption granted to the Albukhary Foundation,” it said in a statement.

The ministry said it was responding to viral claims on social media that former finance minister Lim Guan Eng had signed off on the cancellation of the foundation’s tax exemption status.

“The ministry takes this false allegation seriously and will lodge a police report.”

Former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin previously claimed that Lim, who was the finance minister from 2018 to 2020, had revoked the foundation’s tax-exempt status.

Lim has threatened to sue Muhyiddin for his “seditious” statement which, he said, implied that a non-Muslim minister had revoked the tax-exempt status of a Muslim charitable organisation.

Lim lodged a police report against Muhyiddin yesterday. He said he would also file a civil suit against the Perikatan Nasional chairman.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told the Dewan Rakyat that Lim did not cancel the tax exemption afforded to the foundation as alleged by Muhyiddin.