COMMENT | Malaysia’s support for a binding UN Tax Convention can no longer be an abstract diplomatic position but a domestic necessity.

Without a global, enforceable framework to curb offshore secrecy and illicit financial flows, Malaysia will continue to lose billions in public revenue while ordinary workers and families shoulder a disproportionate share of the country’s costs.

The Inland Revenue Board has identified 14,858 Malaysian tax residents holding more than RM10 billion in undeclared offshore accounts in jurisdictions such as Luxembourg, Hong Kong, Guernsey, the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, and Bermuda.

This scale of hidden wealth highlights a systemic failure that no country can fix on its own.

The lost revenue could have...