Tax Refund & E-invoice – Madani Should Stop Stealing Money

Tax Refund & E-invoice – Madani Should Stop Stealing Money


December 8th, 2025 by financetwitter


Facing the prospect of a defeat in the next 16th General Election after his own party PKR (People’s Justice Party) ended with just 1 seat in the recent Sabah state election, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim reluctantly made some humiliating U-turns. Under the pretext of listening to the business community, he announced easing e-invoicing requirements and doubling allocations for tax refunds.


The Madani government will raise the e-invoice exemption threshold from RM500,000 to RM1 million beginning next year to ease the burden on SMEs (small and medium enterprises). Mr. Anwar said – “The previous e-invoicing threshold of RM500,000 had imposed unnecessary burden on small operators. Big corporations can cope, but SMEs felt the pressure,”



At the same time, the prime minister announced that the federal government would increase the allocation for tax refunds from RM2 billion to RM4 billion this December to expedite outstanding payments, particularly for small businesses. He said – “We have allocated RM2 billion for this fast track refunds but maybe that will not be enough. So I doubled it up till the period of December,”



While Anwar admitted, not that he had any choice, that small and medium traders had struggled with his half-baked policies, which he agreed contributed to Pakatan Harapan’s losses in urban Chinese areas, the narcissist premier did not forget to praise himself. “I want to be a leader who not only listens but responds. Leadership is a responsibility, not a privilege,” – he claims credit.



Was the prime minister really a responsible leader, or was he caught with his pants down following Pakatan Harapan’s crushing defeat in the Sabah polls? The answer is obvious. Thanks to the Sabah Chinese who gave him an incredible slap, he was forced to respond after arrogantly ignored complaints from the SMEs – especially Chinese business owners – regarding his bad tax policies.



The reversal in the tax regimes also suggests that the Sabah Chinese tsunami could spread into Peninsular Malaysia, leading to PM Anwar eating humble pie. If indeed the Borneo state’s defeat was an isolated case and would not affect Anwar-led Pakatan Harapan in the next national polls, the Madani government did not need to succumb to pressure from the business community.




And the man who both deserves the credit and is now laughing at Anwar’s arrogance is none other than former finance minister Lim Guan Eng. Having highlighted the problematic tax regimes – expanded Sales and Services Tax (SST), e-Invoicing rollout and delayed tax refunds – for nearly a year before the Sabah election, Lim’s warnings were consistently ignored by PM Anwar – till the stunning election defeat.



The Cabinet decision to correct the mistakes that should not have happened might include pressure from Democratic Action Party (DAP), whose 40 MPs constitute the biggest party in the multi-coalition Unity Government. Under the spineless leadership of Anthony Loke Siew Fook, DAP suffered a complete wipeout in the Sabah election, forcing Loke to give Anwar a 6-month warning to reform.



But even after the government raised the e-invoice exemption threshold to RM1 million, the damage is done. Will the genius Anwar compensate small traders like Kopitiam restaurant owners, who had already spent at least RM3,000 on the system, only to be told now that they are being exempted from e-invoice? Unless they can claim back from the incompetent Madani, their frustration could cost Pakatan Harapan truckloads of votes.




Besides high costs in acquisition, implementation and operating, the business community has been complaining about technical issues, compatibility problems, system overload, data inaccuracies, submission limits, and whatnot. However, because the finance ministry wanted to squeeze every tax Ringgit from SMEs, complaints were simply ignored and rejected.



Yes, Anwar knew from the beginning that e-invoicing would impose unnecessary burdens on small operators, but he bulldozed it anyway even for those with just RM500,000 turnover. He deliberately taxed the SMEs to the maximum because the Chinese community controls and manages most of the Malaysian SMEs. He saw the Chinese businesses as cash cows that must be milked to dry.



If you think milking small business operators was bad, wait till you hear about how the government steals money by deliberately delaying tax refunds. The despicable game plan was to keep delaying refunds till taxpayers give up due to years of frustration, or forget about the money owed by the government, and voila, the money suddenly belongs to the government.




Taxpayers were supposed to receive their refunds within the stipulated 30-day period. However, deliberate refund backlogs and unreasonable Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) assessments saw some companies have to wait more than three years to get their tax refunds – if they are lucky. To make life difficult for the taxpayers, the LHDN and Finance Ministry were working hand-in-glove to purposely introduced unclear procedures or new requirements.



There was a case where a taxpayer who applied for a RM13,000 refund was offered only RM650, with the balance to be paid over four years. What a wonderful government – taxpayers are required to submit taxes on time but the refunds are late. It’s not rocket science why the angry Chinese felt they were being treated unfairly, victimised, or subjected to double standards in enforcement.



At best, the government behaves like a crook – illegally using people’s money to roll, without paying interest. At worst, the government behaves like a gangster – robbing people’s money through account freezing. Finance Minister Anwar was the mastermind behind the scheme, ordering the Inland Revenue Board to increase national revenue for his political agenda.




And he has the cheek to pretend like a responsible leader after screwing up taxpayers. Did he expect people to be grateful to him for increasing the allocation for tax refunds from RM2 billion to RM4 billion? Even with RM4 billion, the LHDN continues to illegally and unfairly withhold taxpayers’ rightful money, largely because nobody dares to sue the country’s biggest mobster.



Instead of shamefully “locking” money belonging to taxpayers, who have overpaid under the tax estimation system, Anwar should fully refund them immediately without restriction of RM4 billion allocation. It creates a perception that the government was bankrupt or has cash flow problems – even mismanaged national coffers – hence insufficient money to pay and therefore, has resorted to pathetic dirty tactics.



Excessive tax payments, which are not legally theirs, should be credited into a dedicated account ready for refund purposes, and not diverted elsewhere for Anwar’s other expenses. The fact that the LHDN and Finance Ministry are reduced to paying business owners or taxpayers in instalments indicates elements of incompetence, abuse of power or misuse of funds.




Yet, Prime Minister Anwar could easily give away RM200 million to Hamas-Palestine, RM10 billion annually for civil servants’ remuneration, RM2.5 billion for JAKIM, and of course, 75% discount to reduce crooked Najib Razak’s fine from RM210 million to RM50 million. While oppressing business owners, at the same time he wastefully misused the taxpayers’ money to boost his popularity.



Anwar claims that he was aware of “longstanding complaints” from the Malay and Chinese community, especially small business owners, about slow refund. Yet, he scrambled to partially fix the problem only after a bad election result. It was not a proactive, but a panic and desperation reaction. Make no mistake – this is not a reform, but a political survival.



This is how the deficit of trust happens – people’s disappointment builds up over time into frustration and ultimately anger. When businesses owe the government, the rules are fast and punitive, and there is zero negotiation. If you miss your tax payment deadline, you’re immediately hit with a 10% penalty, and another 5% if still late by 60 days. But when the Madani government owes you a refund, it can drag for 3 years with absolutely no liability.




More importantly, Anwar must answer a simple question – “How can refunding money require special allocation?” It certainly sounds like the money was already spent elsewhere because the finance minister has zero accountability. Taxpayers’ money is not the Prime Minister’s money, to be granted or allocated. It’s highly irresponsible for the PM to talk and treat overpaid taxpayers’ money as the government’s disposable income.

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