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Being stopped by authorities at the airport just before your flight takes off is no fun. Whether you have a huge holiday already planned or an important work meeting overseas, this situation would surely put a few white hairs on your head.
This is what happened to Fly FM radio announcer Haniff Hamzah last weekend, when he was supposed to board a flight at KLIA2 only to find out that he had been barred from leaving Malaysia.
When contacted, Haniff recalled the entire ordeal and shared what happened with TRP.
It began as any normal day a traveller would have. Haniff was making his way through the airport to catch a flight to Singapore when the immigration autogate displayed a message after he scanned his passport to get through.
According to Haniff, the message that popped up on the autogate screen said something along the lines of “Please check at the immigration office”.
He attempted a second scan on the same autogate and proceeded to several other gates but received the same message. Eventually, an immigration officer took him to the immigration office near the autogates.
The issue was with LHDN, not immigration
Haniff said the office he was escorted to was where anyone with passport issues would be attended to by immigration officers.
When one of the officers checked his passport status, it turned out that his passport being barred involved a matter with the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (LHDN).
The officer asked Haniff to call a number on a list which showed the contacts of LHDN officers in every state to check what the issue was with them. Eventually, he reached an officer on a direct line at LHDN Petaling Jaya and they told him that he had outstanding taxes from a company he owns.
“I didn’t understand what was happening at first. In the immigration office they told me that LHDN said I didn’t pay my taxes. Only then that I realised they were referring to my old company,” he told TRP.
The company nearly shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic
Haniff explained that he does own a business that manages media buys but it was put on hiatus during the pandemic while he went on to focus on other ventures.
The company, according to him, had three years of undeclared taxes during the time he had set it aside momentarily.
“During the pandemic, the company nearly shuttered and I neglected a few things I needed to do, which was declare my profits and losses,” he said.
Because the company did not declare its taxes during that time, LHDN produced a six-figure estimate, which was far higher than the company’s profits.
According to Haniff, LHDN said his travel ban would be lifted temporarily and he could get on his flight to Singapore if he could pay a five-figure minimum.
He told them that he did not have that much money on hand and couldn’t pay to lift his no-fly status temporarily. At that point, he gave up on going to Singapore as the gate had already closed.
Haniff told TRP that he has been speaking to tax accountants to declare the correct amount his company owes LHDN.
He also spoke about the issue in a Fly FM Number One session.
@flyfm PTPTN? Bankruptcy? Criminal Records? @Haniff Hamzah finally sets the record straight on why he was blocked from travelling and what he’s doing next. He’s also using his platform to remind Malaysians to be extra careful to manage their commitments so they don’t end up in the same situation.
Have you ever been in the same situation with Haniff? Tell us
#FlyFMNumber #FlyFM #EHFly ♬ original sound – Fly FM Malaysia
This could happen to anyone
Any Malaysian could be barred from travelling overseas due to a number of reasons such as outstanding tax arrears (personal or business), unpaid Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contributions, or legal issues like criminal charges.
Other reasons also include bankruptcy and other legal issues such as failing to attend investigations handled by the Securities Commission of Malaysia (SSM).
Only company directors, shareholders or sole proprietors of a company would be restriced from travelling if a company has tax arrears. This is also stated on the EPF website.
There is a simple way to check whether you are barred from travelling or not, and that is through the Immigration Travel Status Check System portal. All you have to do is enter your MyKad number and click “check” and it will tell you if you’re free to travel, or not.
Earlier in February, a family going on holiday was forced to miss their flight after immigration officers claimed that they had unresolved tax issues by LHDN.
However, it turned out that it was a false alarm and LHDN had made an error. Later, the family visited LHDN to discuss the issue and the tax board assured them they would investigate the mishap.
READ MORE: This Family’s Travel Plans Were Grounded By A Tax Error At KLIA
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