IRB owe taxpayers RM10billion

It is indeed a 'shocking disclosure' on reading your column Does the Govt owe me money? by P. Guna and the news Taxpayers cry foul over delay that taxpayers, in spite of diligently paying their taxes and on time, do not have their refunds made to them with the same alacrity. We understand that the IRB is indeed doing its best, but a reported case that a taxpayer who is owed RM15000 by the IRB still received a demand from the department to pay RM3000, conjures up images of total confusion in the IRB. Surely it's not impossible in these days of the Internet and ICT, for the assessment and collection systems of the department to be 'communicating' with each other instantaneously, and not have to depend on phone calls and onerous paper trails from the various units in order to obtain a complete 'picture' of a taxpayer and his debt position? It seems to me, up to today, in spite of millions spent on the latest technology and e-filing, what a taxpayer is assessed for and what he pays are under the control of two discrete entities, each not knowing exactly what the other is doing? As a corollary, what will a person think of his Bank, if the manager tells him his credits and debits cannot be shown in one statement?