KUALA LUMPUR, Feb. 10 -- Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng today said that those who have received emails and letters sent out by the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) regarding the Special Voluntary Declaration Programme (SVDP) have no reason to be alarmed.

He said the initiative by IRB was to recoup unpaid taxes from those who had failed to declare or report earnings from Malaysia being channelled to their foreign accounts.

"If this income has been reported to IRB and has been taxed and later channelled overseas, then everything is in order based on income tax laws in the country," he said in a statement.

Lim said he has given directives to the IRB to come down hard on officers found to be taking advantage of the SVDP implementation.

"I have i...