PERAK TAX FORUM 11 March 2016 Syeun Hotel KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY GUEST OF HONOUR

Extracts of the Opening Remarks from the Guest of Honour

TAN SRI DATO CHANG KO YOUN

Distinguished Chairpersons, Speakers and Panelists,

Honoured Guests and Participants,

Ladies and Gentlemen

 

I am delighted to be here today to open the Perak Tax Forum 2016 – PTF 2016. I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to CTIM Perak Branch for organising this forum, and everyone involved for their hard work in making this event possible.

 

The government has tabled the Eleventh Malaysia Plan, charting the nation’s course for the period 2016 to 2020 with the theme “Anchoring Growth on People”. The government’s actions in the economic transformation towards a high income economy are funded by national revenue, of which, more than 50 percent comes from tax collection. It is therefore very apt that “Evolving Tax Landscape – Are you Ready?” has been chosen as the theme for PTF 2016.

 

 

LHDN and RMCD have key roles in the maintenance of our country’s financial and economic well-being.

 

We currently face a number of challenges to our national revenue. These challenges include the uncertain conditions in the global financial and real economies as well as the sharp fall in the price of petroleum and other commodities.

 

In addition, we still face problems of non-compliance such as money laundering and tax fraud. The evolution of technology has facilitated cross borders transactions, and this, along with the sophistication and complexities of today’s business models, have made the job of the taxperson even more challenging

 

To counter this, there has to be a high degree of interaction and cooperation between tax administration, tax practitioners and taxpayers. In the context of revenue collection, this means approaching stakeholders as partners and not as difficult or reluctant customers. Therefore, maintaining good day-to-day working relationships can yield the desired outcomes for all parties concerned.

 

In this respect, I would also like to take this opportunity to commend CTIM Perak Branch on its efforts to keep its members updated through its engagement initiatives and as a link and intermediary between revenue collecting agencies, tax practitioners and taxpayers.

 

CTIM Perak Branch has once again succeeded in bringing a large group of participants and a distinguished list of chairpersons, speakers and panelists to this forum. I would like to commend the branch on its success, as well for all the forums that were held over the recent years.

 

My thanks again to CTIM Perak for asking me to officiate today.

 

I have no doubt that today will be a very stimulating and rewarding day for all the participants concerned.

 

On that note, I declare the Perak Tax Forum 2016 open.