Director General and other officers and their responsibilities
(1) The Director General shall have the superintendence of all matters relating to goods and services tax, subject to the direction and control of the Minister.
(2) Subject to the general direction and supervision of the Director General, a senior officer of goods and services tax shall have and exercise all powers conferred on the Director General under this Act other than those conferred by sections 8, 62, 76, 77, 172 and 173.
(3) Any person other than an officer of customs may be appointed by or employed with the concurrence of the Director General for any duty or service relating to goods and services tax and the person shall be deemed to be an officer of goods and services tax.
(4) The Director General may, by authorization in writing, confer on any officer of goods and services tax not being a senior officer of goods and services tax all or any of the powers of a senior officer of goods and services tax for a period not exceeding ninety days in respect of any one authorization.
(5) Any officer of goods and services tax shall have the duties and powers to enforce and ensure due compliance with the provisions of this Act.
Recognition of office
(1) Every officer of goods and services tax when discharging his duties shall, on demand made by any person, declare his office and produce to the person the authority card or badge prescribed under section 8a of the Customs Act 1967 or in the case of any officer of goods and services tax not being an officer of customs, any other authority card as may be approved by the Director General.
(2) It shall not be an offence for any person to refuse to comply with any request, demand or order made by any officer of goods and services tax acting or purporting to act under this Act if the officer refuses to declare his office and produce his authority card or badge on demand being made by the person.
(3) Any person, not being an officer of goods and services tax, who unlawfully wears, uses, possesses or displays, otherwise than in the course of a stage play or other theatrical performance, any prescribed uniform, badge or authority card referred to in subsection (1), or any dress having the appearance of or bearing the distinctive marks of such uniform commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to both.
Public servants
All officers of goods and services tax shall be deemed to be public servants within the meaning of the Penal Code [Act 574].
Confidentiality of information
(1) Every person, having any official duty or being appointed or employed under this Act, shall regard and deal with all documents, information, returns or declarations relating to the business, value of the supply of goods or services of any taxable person or value of imported goods as confidential.
(2) Subject to subsection (4), every person having possession or control over any document, information, return or declaration or copies thereof in relation to the business or the value of the supply of goods or services of any taxable person or value of imported goods, who at any time, otherwise than for the purposes of this Act or with the express authority of the Director General—
(a) communicates or attempts to communicate the information or anything contained in the document, return or declaration or copies thereof to any person; or
(b) suffers or permits any person to have access to any information or to anything contained in the document, return or declaration or copies thereof,
commits an offence.
(3) No person having any official duty or being appointed or employed under this Act or who is referred to in subsection (4) shall be required to produce in any matters or proceedings in any court or tribunal any document, information, return or declaration or to divulge or communicate in the matters or proceedings, any matter or thing, coming under his notice in the performance of his duties under this Act, except as may be necessary for the purposes of carrying into effect the provisions of this Act or in order to institute a prosecution or in the course of a prosecution for any offence committed under this Act.
(4) The Director General may, as he deems fit, transmit or communicate any document, information, return or declaration referred to in subsection (1) or anything contained therein, to the Director General of Inland Revenue or the Chief Statistician which may be required in the performance of his official duty.
(5) Notwithstanding subsection (4), the Minister may, as he deems fit, allow the Director General to transmit or communicate any document, information, return or declaration referred to in subsection (1) or anything contained therein to any other person.
