PUTRAJAYA: Toh Puan Nai’mah Abdul Khalid, wife of former Finance Minister Tun Daim Zainuddin, has been granted a temporary stay by the Court of Appeal to delay the payment of RM313.82 million in income tax arrears to the Tax Board (LHDN) pending the resolution of her appeal.

A three-judge bench comprising Justices Supang Lian, Hashim Hamzah and Dr Choo Kah Sing unanimously granted Nai’mah’s application for an ad interim (temporary) stay pending the resolution of her appeal against a High Court decision.

Delivering the court’s decision on Monday (Oct 28), Court of Appeal judge Dr Choo said Nai’mah’s claim had merit.

Last month, the Shah Alam High Court refused to grant Nai’mah an interim stay on an order requiring her to pay the additional tax of RM313.82 million.

Her appeal to the Court of Appeal has not yet been scheduled.

She requested the interim stay pending the outcome of her application for leave to commence a judicial review challenging LHDN’s 2018 supplementary tax assessments.

Nai’mah filed its application on Aug 13 this year, with the aim of canceling LHDN’s claim of RM313.82 million in tax arrears.

In her supporting statement, Nai’mah claimed that the tax assessment against her was based on unsubstantiated allegations of more than RM700 million in undeclared income for 2018, which she described as baseless.

She also alleged that LHDN has not refunded RM3.807 billion in taxes due from 2017 and before.

During the proceedings, her lawyer S. Saravana Kumar argued that although Nai’mah was willing to pay her taxes, she was unable to do so because her accounts had been frozen by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC ).

He also noted that if the stay is not granted, the LHDN may take civil action against her to recover the money, potentially subjecting her to bankruptcy proceedings.

LHDN Senior Federal Counsel Mohamad Hafidz Ahmad countered that no special circumstances warranted the granting of an interim stay to Nai’mah.

When Justice Hashim asked how the government expected Nai’mah to pay RM313.8 million when her accounts were frozen, Hafidz replied that taxpayers like Nai’mah should find ways to pay the amount.

The High Court set a date of 12 February 2025 to hear Nai’mah’s application for leave to commence a judicial review. – Bernama