A writ of summons and statement of claim were filed today by the Sarawak comptroller of the State Sales Tax and the state government against Petronas at the High Court registry in Kuching.

Sarawak Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department (Law, State-Federal Relations and Project Monitoring) Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali said the legal action was taken to recover the state sales tax owed by the national oil gas company to the state.

“As have been mentioned several times before this, Petronas has not paid the state sales tax for petroleum products under the State Sales Tax Ordinance 1998 which is due to the state.

“As a result, the state government is left with no choice but to commence legal action for the recovery of the unpaid taxes due,” she said in a statement today.

The statement, however, did not mention the amount the state is seeking from Petronas.

The five percent state sales tax was imposed on Jan 1 this year, and Petronas is said to be the only oil and gas company operating in the state which has not paid the sales tax.

- Bernama