Shafie proposes 'luxury tax' to help boost government revenue

 

PARLIAMENT | Mohd Shafie Apdal (Warisan-Semporna) has mooted a “luxury tax” to help increase the government’s revenue.

He said this is because he does not see any policies in Budget 2022 which can significantly add to the government’s coffers, aside from the one-off prosperity tax.

“I would like to suggest the government consider implementing a luxury tax for the purchase of luxury goods or services and non-essentials that are past a certain price point.

“Luxury items that can be taxed are like super cars, yachts, private jets, high-value jewellery and other luxury items,” Shafie said while debating the Budget 2022 in the Dewan Rakyat today.

He said many countries have already implemented a luxury tax on their citizens for a while now, including our Asean neighbours Thailand and Indonesia.

This luxury tax can also narrow the economic gap between low-income groups (B40) and high-income groups (T20), he said.

“(This is) in line with the government’s aspirations for the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030,” Shafie said.

As such, he urged the government to consider implementing this tax in the next budget.

Under Budget 2022, big companies with paid-up capital of RM2.5 million or more will have the corporate tax on taxable income for the first RM100 million maintained at 24 percent.

However, any taxable income after RM100 million will be subjected to the one-off 33 percent prosperity tax. - Mkini