KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's son, Datuk Mohd Nazifuddin has been served a bankruptcy notice failing to pay income tax amounting to RM37.6 million as ruled by the High Court in July last year.

His lawyer, Wee Yeong Kang, when contacted, said the notice was served to his client on April 30 and that they had filed an affidavit to oppose the bankruptcy notice on May 6.

"My client will also file another application to set aside the notice and to have the bankruptcy proceedings be postponed. The next case management has been set on June 21," he said after virtual case management before High Court deputy registrar Ida Rahayu Sharif here today.

According to documents filed in court, the government through the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) filed the notice against 38-year-old Mohd Nazifuddin as a debtor in the High Court here on Feb 4, the same day a bankruptcy notice was filed against his father.

Based on the notice, Mohd Nazifuddin had to pay RM37.6 million with a five per cent interest rate per annum on the total balance from July 6, 2020 (date of High Court's decision) to Feb 4, 2021, bringing the total payable amount to RM38,758,370.93.

On July 6 last year, the High Court ruled that Mohd Nazifuddin had to pay the IRB RM37.6 million in additional tax and penalties for the period from 2011 to 2017, after allowing the IRB's application to enter a summary judgment against him.

A summary judgment is when the court decides a particular case summarily, without calling witnesses to testify in a trial.

Mohd Nazifuddin has filed an appeal against the High Court's decision in the Court of Appeal, which will hear the case on Aug 9.

Pursuant to Section 103 (2) of the Income Tax Act 1967, a person ordered to pay the assessment has to settle the payment to the IRB even if an appeal has been filed.

-- BERNAMA