IF you feel a headache coming on when you think about filing your income tax returns, you are not alone.

Members of the public with similar predicaments were relieved at the Tax Payers’ Awareness Day held at the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) office in Wisma Great Eastern in Penang recently.

Wage earners from various income groups and ages filed into a meeting room to seek answers and clarification from MIA volunteers and Inland Reve-nue Board (IRB) officers regarding their taxes.

While some had questions about filling out forms, declaring income and calculating their taxes, the majority of the visitors came to find out more about the recently improved e-Filing system.

“I’ve declared taxes for more than 10 years but I’ve always done it manually by filling out forms.

“I feel that doing it online is faster and easier, especially in calculating the taxes. After getting some information, I’m pretty confident that anyone with basic computer skills will be able to do it,” said corporate administrator Toh Soon Lean, 50.

Clerk Salmah Habib, 49, who has been filing taxes for over 20 years, was also giving the new system a try.

“I received the income tax forms in the mail and have obtained my pin number to access the website.

“From what I hear, the process of e-Filing is quite simple,” she said.

However, other visitors who had gotten used to filling out forms were sticking to the manual system.

“I’ve been filing taxes since the mid-1970s and I’m very used to the system.

“The reason I came here was to inquire about tax claims for my wife, who has recently retired,” said general practitioner Dr Quah Boo Siew, 56.

MIA Penang branch Tax Com-mittee chairman Tan Tcheow Woei said the awareness day was jointly organised by IRB with the objective to provide information to the public and raise the compliance rate among Malaysian taxpayers.

“Those who fail to submit tax returns could be in for a hefty penalty of between RM200 to RM2,000 while those who fail to pay their taxes could be fined up to three times the tax amount due,” he said.

He added that the deadline to hand in income tax forms was April 30.

Tough check: A woman going through her income tax forms in front of an MIA representative.