ALOR SETAR (Bernama): The amount of tax owed by the Kedah Football Association to the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) has risen to RM10mil, the state legislative assembly sitting was told on Thursday (Sept 23).

       State tourism, arts and culture, youth and sports, and entrepreneur development and cooperatives committee chairman Mohd Firdaus Ahmad said the amount was derived after the IRB reviewed documents related to wages from 2014 to 2019 in March.

       “The review found that the FA had PCB/CP38 (schedular tax deduction) arrears (and) the total amount has risen to RM10mil,” he said in the winding-up session of the assembly sitting.

       Mohd Firdaus, who is also the FA's honorary secretary, said the amount included schedular tax deduction arrears of previous import players.

       According to him, the FA previously had over RM3.4mil in PCB/CP38 arrears, excluding the unpaid compound by the previous management.

       Meanwhile, Kedah Mentri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor told a press conference after the assembly sitting that when he first held the post of FA president in July last year, the association not only had salary arrears with its players but also owed the IRB and Employees Provident Fund (EPF).

       “At that time, the state government managed to settle RM15mil of the salary and arrears owed to the players while (what was due to) the EPF and IRB was rescheduled.

       “But when we wanted to get new player licences for the new season, we were asked to submit licensing documents required by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and Malaysian Football League (MFL).

       "We were surprised by the new IRB claim of RM10.4mil, which is the unpaid income tax of the players,” he said.

       He said that if the FA failed to settle the arrears, it would affect the licensing process, which needs IRB clearance for approval.

       “The FA operates for the advancement of sports based on the social responsibility of the sponsors and does not make any profit because it is not a profit-making business entity.

       “Furthermore, this is all old arrears ... currently there are no arrears. So, I have negotiated to write off (the arrears) due to its (IRB's) past failure in not collecting what was owed to it then,” he said. – Bernama