MCA president Wee Ka Siong said Utar’s management had held discussions with officials of the ministry and Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) over the past two months to appeal against the alleged tax arrears and penalties.

“In the meantime, the deadline for the tax arrears has been extended to Sept 30,” Wee said in a statement, adding that he will hold a press conference tomorrow on the issue.

Earlier today, Sin Chew Daily reported that Utar Education Foundation, which owns the university, was recently hit with an RM83 million tax bill, which included fines of up to 45%.

The daily quoted sources who alleged that the bill meant the foundation’s tax-exempt status had been revoked. However, deputy finance minister Lim Hui Ying later denied such a claim.

She said the university and the foundation are treated as two separate entities. Utar was appealing against the tax bill, she said.

As a private university, Utar had never been granted tax-exempt status, while income generated by the foundation itself continued to enjoy tax-exempt status.

Wee said he had brought up the tax matter to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim several times since Utar received the arrears notice in June.

He said Anwar, who is also the finance minister, had promised to assist in the matter and had instructed LHDN to handle the case.

He said LHDN submitted a report to Anwar in July stating it will maintain its original position.

“I met with Anwar again and we were told that LHDN decided to pursue the tax. To overturn this decision, Utar subsequently submitted a formal appeal to the finance ministry,” Wee said.