06 May 2021, by Anand Raj, Chairperson, Corporate and Commercial Law Committee, Tax Subcommittee of the Corporate and Commercial Law Committee
Circular No 156/2021
Dated 6 May 2021
To Members of the Malaysian Bar
Update | Legal Professional Privilege: Director General of Inland Revenue v Malaysian Bar
We refer to Circular No 096/2018 dated 6 Apr 2018 and Circular No 250/2019 dated 19 Nov 2019, both entitled “Update | Application for Declaratory Relief with Regard to Legal Professional Privilege: Malaysian Bar v Director General of Inland Revenue”.
The judgment of the High Court of Malaya at Kuala Lumpur in favour of the Bar is reported at Bar Malaysia v Ketua Pengarah Hasil Dalam Negeri [2018] 9 MLJ 557. This matter is in relation to legal professional privilege and clients’ accounts. To view the Order of the High Court dated 2 Apr 2018, please click here (see pages 2 to 7).
The Director General of Inland Revenue (“DGIR”)’s appeal to the Court of Appeal was heard in Putrajaya on 3 Mar 2021 via an open court paperless (e-Appellate) hearing. Upon the hearing of the legal arguments of counsel for the parties, the Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed the DGIR’s appeal, and affirmed the decision of the High Court. To view the Order of the Court of Appeal dated 3 Mar 2021, please click here (see pages 8 to 11).
The DGIR applied for leave to appeal to the Federal Court on 2 Apr 2021.
Unless the Federal Court holds otherwise, the decision of the Court of Appeal means that, unless expressly waived by clients in writing, Members cannot provide any information or documents relating to clients’ accounts to the DGIR / Inland Revenue Board.
We will notify Members as and when there are developments. We are in the midst of organising two webinars on the issues arising — on 4 June 2021 (in English) and 11 June 2021 (in Bahasa Malaysia). Members who may have any concerns about these issues are urged to attend the webinars.
Thank you.
Anand Raj
Chairperson
Corporate and Commercial Law Committee
Tax Subcommittee of the Corporate and Commercial Law Committee
Please click here to view the full circular on our website, or here to view it on our Facebook page.