Taxpayers allow to file an income tax appeal if they are not satisfied with the income tax assessement, personal reliefs have not been appropriately given, forgotten to claim certain expenses / reliefs or an error made during assessment issued by the IRBM office.

How to File an Appeal?

If taxpayers receive a notice of assessment and disagree with it, they allow to make an appeal. The appeal must be made within 30 days from the date of the notice. Taxpayers have to write the appeal to the IRBM branch which issued the assessment.

Taxpayers then required to fill in Q Form, and the appeal will be forwarded to the Special Commissioners of Income Tax.

If taxpayers have a valid reason and require more than 30 days to file an appeal, taxpayers require to apply for an extension of time by using N Form. The form is to be forwarded for decision by the Special Commissioners of Income Tax.

Both N and Q form are available at IRBN office.

What is the Required Documentation?

In order to make a proper income tax appeal, taxpayers must write a letter stating the type of mistakes and clearly specify whether the mistake is either in expenses claimed, deductions, exemptions or other things.

To support the appeal, taxpayers must submit supporting documents such as expenses claimed, deductions, reliefs, etc. The supporting documents are to be attached to the letter.

In the case, where IRBM finds out that the information is insufficient, IRBM may ask for other supporting documents to enable amendment of assessment to be made.

Please be reminded that taxpayers still have to pay tax liabilities even though an appeal has been made.

Appeal Settlement

An appeal may be settled either by agreement between the taxpayer and the IRBM, or by a decision of the Special Commissioners of Income Tax / the High Court / the Court of Appeal.

If taxpayers are not satisfied with the decision made by IRBM regarding the appeal, it will be forwarded to the Special Commissioners of Income Tax. In the case taxpayers still not satisfied with the Special Commissioners decision, taxpayers can appeal further to the High Court and the Court of Appeal.

Who is Special Commissioners of Income Tax?

The Special Commissioners of Income Tax is an independent tribunal which consists of panel members appointed by the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong to handle tax appeals.