Application for Relief Under the ITA

Application for Relief Under the ITA

  1. Apart from an appeal under section 99 of the ITA, a taxpayer may make an application for relief under section 131 of the ITA in respect of error or mistake in the ITRF made by him. The determination whether a taxpayer has made an error or mistake is a question of fact and law.
  2. The onus of proving that there is an error or mistake shall be on the taxpayer. The DGIR will review the assessment only if he is satisfied that the taxpayer has made an error or mistake in the ITRF or statement made by him for the purposes of the ITA which is furnished to the DGIR.
  3. The conditions under section 131 of the ITA are:
    1. An application for relief will not be considered if the ITRF is made in accordance with a known stand, rules and practices of the DGIR prevailing at the time when the assessment was made.
    2. the taxpayer has paid all the taxes that have been assessed for the relevant year of assessment.
  4. The taxpayer must make a written application by way of a letter or a Form CP15C to the DGIR within five (5) years after the end of the year of assessment in which the assessment was deemed to be made or the assessment was raised.

  1. An application for relief for other than error or mistake case is allowed for the following circumstances:
    1. any exemption, reliefs, remissions, allowance or deduction granted under the ITA or any written law gazetted after the year of assessment in which the Income Tax Return Form (ITRF) was furnished; or
    2. approval for any exemption, relief, remission, allowance or deduction is granted after the year of assessment in which the ITRF was furnished; OR
    3. a deduction not allowed in respect of payment not due to be paid under subsection 107A(2) or 109(2), section 109A, or subsection 109B(2) or 109F(2) on the day the ITRF was furnished.
  2. The conditions for an application for relief under section 131A of the ITA are:
    1. the taxpayer must furnish the ITRF in accordance with subsection 77(1) or 77A(1) of the ITA;
    2. the taxpayer has paid all taxes that have been assessed for the relevant year of assessment.
  3. The taxpayer must make an application for relief by a letter or a Form CP15F within the stipulated time as follows:
    1. for the application for relief in subparagraphs 5(a) and (b), within five (5) years after the end of the year in which the exemption, relief, remission, allowance or deduction is published in the Gazette, or the approval was granted, whichever is later; AND
    2. for the relief application in subparagraph 5(c), within one (1) year after the end of the year in which payment was made.

    1. A non-taxable case is when a taxpayer has furnished an ITRF to the DGIR under subsection 77(1) or 77A(1) of the ITA and there is no chargeable income . For a non-taxable case, the taxpayer may make an application for relief to the DGIR in writing to amend the ITRF:
      1. in the event of any errors or mistakes and this is similar to the application for relief under section 131 of the ITA as specified in paragraphs 1 to 4 above; OR
      2. in the event of other than in respect of error or mistake and this is similar to the relief application under section 131A of the ITA as specified in paragraphs 5 to 7 above.

    For further clarification and information regarding an application for relief, kindly refer to Public Ruling No. 7/2020 (Appeal against an Assessment and Application for Relief).

    1. An application for relief can be made either by a letter or through prescribed forms by stating the reasons in detail relating to the application. The forms for application for relief can be downloaded and printed from the following link:
    2. In the event the letter or the form is not filled with the correct details, the application shall be returned to the taxpayer to enable the taxpayer to submit a new application for relief.
    3. If the application for relief is approved by the DGIR, the assessment will be amended and a reduced assessment will be issued.
    4. If the application for relief is rejected by the DGIR, a rejection letter together with the grounds of rejection will be issued to the taxpayer.
    5. If the taxpayer disagrees with the decision of the DGIR, within six (6) months from the date of the rejection letter, the taxpayer may via a letter request the DGIR to send the application for relief (which has been submitted earlier) to the SCIT. The DGIR shall forward the application to the SCIT within three (3) months from the date of receipt of the request. An example of the Taxpayer Request Letter can be downloaded from the following link: Example of the Taxpayer Request Letter
    6. In a case where a deemed assessment on an ITRF or an amended ITRF is made in accordance with a known stand, rules and practices of the DGIR prevailing at the time the assessment was made, the taxpayer's application for relief under subsections 97A and 131 of the ITA for an error or mistake will not be considered even though the taxpayer can prove that there is an error or mistake unless the error is only arithmetical or computational.

    For further clarification and information regarding an application for relief, kindly refer to Public Ruling No. 7/2020 (Appeal Against an Assessment and Application for Relief).