Charles Chan, who worked with several major English dailies in the country between 1963 and 2002, said he came into the country on March 28 via KLIA using his New Zealand passport without being questioned by immigration officials.
The 82-year-old said his problems began on April 11 when he was returning from Singapore to Penang after a week-long holiday.
After an hour of questioning on his arrival, an immigration officer told Chan to present himself at the Inland Revenue Board’s (LHDN) office before he could travel again.
“I was flabbergasted when the officer who checked my New Zealand passport noticed I was born in Malaysia and decided I could be a tax dodger.
“I have no issue with LHDN trying to collect unpaid taxes. But I remembered that upon my retirement in 2002, I went to their headquarters and settled all my tax obligations. They gave me a letter authorising my employer, The Star, to release my final pay cheque,” he told FMT.
Chan insisted he could not be classified as a tax dodger as he was subjected to monthly tax deductions by his employer at the time.
The next day, he went to an LHDN counter at the one-stop centre at Komtar, Penang and showed a letter issued to him by the Penang airport immigration officer. The officer there did some checks and confirmed that Chan had been cleared, but refused to give him a letter.
Heading to Vietnam for another holiday on April 15, he was again stopped by immigration despite pleading that he had been verbally cleared earlier. He was allowed to leave after showing a return ticket and giving an assurance that he would sort his tax issue out when he came back.
Chan was stopped again for questioning at KLIA upon his return on April 21 and was told to go to the immigration headquarters in Putrajaya.
“However, an officer in Putrajaya told me they had nothing to do with it, and asked me to go to the LHDN office in Cyberjaya to sort it out. When I went to Cyberjaya, I was told to go to the Jalan Duta office in Kuala Lumpur,” he said.
Finally, Chan was told that he owed RM1,247 in taxes and would only be cleared to leave the country if he settled his dues.
He said their letter stated generally that the arrears were for years of assessment “1900 to 2004”. It warned that if the amount was not settled in 14 days, LHDN would take out a writ of seizure over his properties.
“Initially, I felt I was being blackmailed and extorted, but I settled the amount without any argument as I feared not being able to return to Auckland if I decided to fight the issue with the authorities.
“I felt I was at their mercy and just left without asking them for the documents. I know it’s their right, but I feel they should not give people like me the runaround. It’s funny how different officers told me different things,” he said.
FMT has reached out to the immigration department and LHDN.