High Court dismisses firm's appeal against Iras' denial of $1.3m in tax refunds

Tax authority had found evidence that cast doubt on the genuineness of transactions

- Selina Lum

A wholesale trade company whose claim of more than $1.3 million in tax refunds from the Inland Revenue of Authority (Iras) was denied has failed in its appeal to the High Court.

The company, THM International Import & Export, purportedly bought $19.7 million worth of micro SD cards and flash drives from a local supplier and then exported the goods to two customers in Malaysia.

The company claimed more than $1.3 million in input tax refunds for these supplies, which allegedly took place between April 1, 2016 and Aug 31, 2016.

Under the Goods and Services Tax Act, input tax is incurred on the supply of goods or services that are used for business purposes.

On Aug 3, 2020, Iras disallowed the claims on the basis that there was no conclusive evidence of a supply of the goods, and that these were not genuine business transactions.

The company appealed to the GST Board of Review - a threemember board comprising people not connected to Iras - but its appeal was dismissed.

It then appealed further to the High Court the first time a case on the rejection of input tax has been brought before the court.