Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Putrajaya will try and return taxes collected "illegally" from individuals and businesses.

"We were aware that during the previous regime, people were pressured in the wrong way.

"For example, many were forced to pay more taxes than what is determined by the law.

"We want to know who were the people who were forced to pay such taxes, and how much they were forced to pay, and we will try and replace the money that was illegally collected," he said in an interview with state television network RTM1.

Mahathir said prior to this, there were those who were forced by the Internal Revenue Board (IRB) to cough out more taxes than were due. 

"If they did not pay, they were punished and blacklisted, preventing them from leaving the country.

“Some had their passports revoked and their account books confiscated, which disrupted their businesses.

"We do not want to disrupt businesses," he said.

In the last two years, the IRB had embarked on an aggressive tax collection spree due to the country's falling revenue as a result of lower oil prices.

However, oil prices recovered this year, with Brent crude oil priced at more than US$75 per barrel.

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