Former finance minister Lim Guan Eng has pledged to continue fighting for full tax refunds for some two million Malaysians who he claims are still owed excess payments by the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) dating back to 2020—despite facing personal attacks over his assertions.
In a statement, Lim said DAP’s Teng Chang Khim had twice criticised him on Facebook, disputing his figures and mocking his call for LHDN to issue RM20 billion in refunds next month.
Lim argued that Teng’s criticisms were misplaced, saying the Finance Ministry’s parliamentary reply cited by Teng only confirmed the scale of the issue: more than three million taxpayers had received refunds totalling RM9.35 billion as of June 30, 2025, but only 1.07 million had received full refunds amounting to RM2.73 billion.
“This shows at least two million taxpayers still have not received their full refunds,” Lim stressed, estimating that the backlog of excess taxes paid amounts to “tens of billions of ringgit”.
He acknowledged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s earlier move to double refund allocations—from RM2 billion to RM4 billion—but insisted it still falls short. Lim said his proposed RM20 billion disbursement in January 2026 would meaningfully help taxpayers ahead of the Chinese New Year celebrations.
Lim also defended his calculations, saying the Finance Ministry’s reply did not provide the actual outstanding sum of unrefunded excess taxes, nor did it dispute his estimate. He argued that the ministry had effectively confirmed the problem exists.
Calling for public support, Lim urged Malaysians to back taxpayers still waiting for their refunds.
“Despite personal attacks, I will persist. I will continue fighting on behalf of these two million Malaysians owed tens of billions in excess taxes since 2020,” he said.
