LHDN spokesman Ranjeet Kaur said the travel restriction was also imposed on those who failed to pay less than RM100 in arrears.

“We are taking such action to ensure everyone fulfils their obligation and to stop them from leaving the country or going abroad before settling their taxes first,” she said, according to Berita Harian.

She said of the 180,216 individuals involved, the highest amount owed by an individual in arrears was RM1.884 billion.

Ranjeet said the number of individuals barred from leaving the country this year was less than in 2022.

Last year, 197,190 people were barred from travelling abroad and the total amount of taxes in arrears was RM12.41 billion.

She said those stopped from travelling abroad due to failure to settle their taxes included both Malaysians and foreigners.

Among them were company directors with over 20% shareholding, who had failed to settle their income tax, property gains tax or corporate tax.