Tax Agent Licence
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Malaysia has thousands of tax practitioners doing their taxation services business under the name of “Management Service Company” without proper tax licence although some of them have sufficient working experience and qualification recognized by government (eg. MIT, MATA etc). This is due to the difficulty in obtaining the tax agent licence.
Propose:
MOF may consider to approve some professional bodies such as MIT, MATA as a Prescribed Body. And the members of the professional body be treated as automatically holding a Restricted Tax Licence in order to allow them to handle some normal tax matters (especially Return Form Lodgement)
Meantime, the MOF may prohibit or restrict them to handle all those listed companies cases and/or special commissioners cases.
Reply
All accountants having minimal qualification can apply to become a tax agent. The interview process which LHDN is entrusted to conduct is to ensure that the applicant has at least the minimum knowledge and level of professionalism to represent the public in matter pertaining to income tax and other related fields. As for tax agents without licence, the MIT, MATA and other professional bodies representing the accountants have the authority to ensure that such malpractice does not occur and take necessary disciplinary action where required. LHDN will not accept any submission if it is found to be made by unlicensed tax agents. Suggestion to create a Restricted Tax Licence will be given due consideration.
The conditions for application have been agreed to by Malaysian Institute of Taxation (MIT), Malaysian Association of Tax Accountants (MATA) and Lembaga Hasil dalam Negeri (LHDN). Your suggestion for conditional approval with restricted services is not feasible currently since there will be issues regarding supervision and ensuring compliance to licensing conditions. Agents are licensed to ensure that clients are getting the benefit of professional advice. |
