Leveraging on Tax Corporate Governance Framework to strengthen ESG program

Spurred by growing demand for transparency and accountability, an increasingly important agenda for Boards of Malaysian Public Listed Companies (“PLCs”) is internalisation of Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) programs. In March 2022, the Bursa Malaysia launched the Public Listed Companies Transformation (“PLCT”) Programme in steering PLCs to accelerate their ESG programs. In highlighting the importance of Tax in the “G” element in ESG, Bursa in its Guidebook 2 “Sustainable, Socially Responsible and Ethical PLCs” states that:

“Investors are increasingly looking at how businesses manage and report tax and have increased expectations for clear and transparent tax reporting and strong tax governance.”

To support the “tax governance” initiative, on 15 April 2022, the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (“IRBM”) published the Tax Corporate Governance Framework (“TCGF”) in providing guidelines to larger corporate taxpayers in designing and implementing its tax governance and internal control framework. The IRBM highlighted several benefits for participating in the TCGF program, including reduced scrutiny from the authorities via tax audit, facilitating resolution of technical matters with dedicated IRBM officer and expedition of tax refunds. 

We are honoured to have an expert from the IRBM to share with you on the nitty-gritty found in the IRBM’s TCGF so that you can make an informed decision on whether to participate in the TCGF on a voluntary basis as part of the ESG agenda of your Board.

Please join us for more insights.