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Several international schools in Malaysia have come under fire for releasing private information on its students and their families to the country’s tax authority, Inland Revenue Board (IRB).
Recently, snapshots of emails had circulated on social media platforms, showing IRB contacting the schools requesting them to provide information on school fees payments.
IRB approached schools for details such as the name of the fee payer, his/her identification number, the name of the student and total fees paid in 2017.
One of the schools told The Star Online that they were obligated to provide the information due to the country’s Income Tax Act.
Parents of the students are upset that their personal information was released without prior consultation, according to Malay Mail.
Some have threatened to pursue legal action due to the impingement of their individual rights on privileges and privacy.
IRB has not released information regarding the sudden requests for international schools’ financial information.
In Malaysia, international schools are independent of the country’s Education Act which governs schools under local laws. They are, however, subject to supervision by the Ministry of Education through its Private Education Division.
The schools mainly cater to the expat and international community though over the years there has been a rise in the number of local Malaysian students.