Section 27

Any person who fails or refuses to pay any cess imposed under this section commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to both.

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Notwithstanding subsection (2), the amount of any cess imposed under this section shall be deemed to be a debt due to the Board from the person on whom the cess is imposed and shall be recoverable by the Board as a civil debt.

The institution of proceedings under this section shall not relieve any person from liability for the payment of any cess for which he is or may be liable or from liability to make any return which he is required by this Ordinance to make.

Without prejudice to subsection (4), the court before which a person is convicted for an offence under subsection (3) may order the person to pay to the Board the total amount of cess certified by the General Manager to be due from the person at the date of the conviction.

When a person is convicted of an offence under this section, the court shall, in addition to any penalty which it may impose, order the person convicted of the offence to pay to the Board a sum of not less than ten times the cess or other payments due in respect of which such offence has been committed, and any sum ordered to be so paid shall be recoverable by the Board as a civil debt.

In any prosecution under this section, the onus of proving that the cess or other payments in respect of such cess has been made shall be upon the accused.

A certificate signed by the General Manager as to the amount of cess payable under subsection (1) shall be final and conclusive evidence of the sum to be paid by any person or class of persons on whom the cess is imposed.

Power to exempt