PUTRAJAYA: The focus of the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) in the Cooking Oil Subsidy Operation or Ops Saji No 1/2022 is to investigate elements of tax evasion in companies that receive subsidised cooking oil.

       The board said in a statement on Thursday (March 24) that the investigation includes the failure of subsidised cooking oil companies and manufacturers to report the amount of taxable income, the proper sales amount and to register a tax file with the agency.

       Clarifying the confusion of press reports relating to the three-day-long Ops Saji that began on March 21, the board stressed that it was not investigating the existence of siphoning of subsidised cooking oil, as it was beyond the agency’s scope and was under another ministry’s jurisdiction.

       LHDN chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Nizom Sairi yesterday revealed that the board had detected elements of tax evasion in companies that receive cooking oil subsidies involving a tax amount of an estimated RM 200mil based on investigations into 63 companies throughout the country.

       According to him, the reported income deficit from such activities was estimated to be worth around RM1bil for the assessment years 2018 to 2020. - Bernama