by hook or by crook, they ain't gonna get more outta me!

The words income, salary, pay, wage, fee, or any forms of remuneration are probably the sweetest words to hear besides the usual terms of endearments. Anything that involves money will bring a even a dead man to life, metaphorically. And whoever says money can't buy happiness must have been shopping at the wrong place. Back to income, the more the better, right? However, what we take we have to give back, partially. Hence the birth of income tax.

The Income Tax Act 1967 states that if you earn more than 32,000MYR per annum, you're required to pay tax. And as your income increases, so does the tax requirement. It is a real pain to see a scrap of your hard-earned cash leave, no? So some people find ways to avoid tax.

One way of doing it is by expensing the assets. For example, if you purchased a car this year, you can state that it is a company car and not for private usage. That shaves off a huge part of the yearly income already. Another way is to defer income. Some payments are usually due the year after for services performed in the current year. Since you have not received the payment, defer it! With the creation of personal relief, you can expense off a number of things, namely
a) Medical expenses for parents
b) Medical expenses for severe disease such as AIDS, cancer and so on.
c) Medical examination but limited to RM500.
d) Disabled individual, wife/husband, children
e) Wife
f) Purchase of equipment for disabled people
g) Education fees in the field of industrial, scientific, technology, technical, accounting, law and Islamic finance.
h) Purchase of books, journals, magazines and publications
i) Purchase of personal computer
j) EPF and life insurance premium
k) Education and medical insurance
l) EPF annuity insurance

So there you have it. A few ways of avoiding tax legally. Evading tax however, is illegal. Al Capone, the crime king of Chicago in the 1930s got away with murder but was chucked in prison for not paying his taxes. Guess you can escape the hands of death but not the hands of the IRB.