Extend stamp duty waiver to properties priced below RM500,000, Putrajaya urged

 

The previous budget gave a 75% waiver on the stamp duty for properties selling at above RM500,000.

PETALING JAYA: With the new government’s first budget set to be tabled tomorrow, the National House Buyers’ Association has renewed calls for the stamp duty waiver to cover more properties.

Its secretary-general, Chang Kim Loong, said if Budget 2023 included any stamp duty exemption for the housing market, it should be extended to properties below RM500,000.

The previous budget gave a 75% waiver on stamp duties for properties priced above RM500,000, and Chang last year took issue with the Perikatan Nasional government over this.

Speaking to FMT yesterday, he noted that there was a higher demand for houses cheaper than RM500,000 and said it would be sensible to extend the waiver’s coverage to them.

“If any form of stamp duty waiver of 75% should be considered, the benefit could perhaps be offered to purchasers of properties in both primary and secondary markets that are priced below RM500,000,” he said.

According to the National Property Information Centre, 56% of residential units sold during the first half of last year were priced at RM300,000 or lower. Properties priced between RM500,000 and RM1 million accounted for 15% of the total sold.

Chang said the government would be using taxpayers’ money to provide waivers on houses priced above RM500,000 since it would collect less revenue and taxes from higher-priced properties. This would be because most houses would remain unsold.

“Mind you, we are talking about developers’ stocks – completed and unsold properties,” he said. “Why should the rest of the country subsidise developers who made bad business decisions?”

Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia president NK Tong told FMT home ownership programmes such as HOPE, introduced in 2022, would benefit first-time homebuyers coming from the low-to-medium income bracket.

He also said the government should find a way to mitigate the rising cost of building materials, noting that it was among the key issues that industry players had been dealing with since the economy entered its post-pandemic recovery period. - FMT