Dewan Negara passes 3 bills under MOF

 

The Dewan Negara assembly today passed three bills under the Finance Ministry related to supplementary government expenditure, tax administration improvements and the levy of extraordinary profits.

The bills involved were the Supplementary Supply (2022) Bill 2023, Finance Bill 2023, and Windfall Profits Levy (Validation) Bill 2023, which were approved by a majority vote.

Deputy Finance Minister I Ahmad Maslan (above), at the tabling of the Supplementary Supply (2022) Bill 2023, said the estimated first additional operating expenses of 2022 amounting to RM60.17 billion from the consolidated fund is to finance supply expenses.

“The first Supplementary Supply (2022) Bill is tabled to obtain approval for expenses that were not allocated or not fully allocated in the last Budget 2022,” he said.

The Supplementary Supply (2022) Bill 2023 was approved by Dewan Rakyat on March 2023.

Meanwhile, Deputy Finance Minister II Steven Sim Chee Keong said the Finance Bill 2023 is to amend the Income Tax Act 1967, Real Property Gains Tax Act 1976, Stamp Act 1949, Petroleum (Income Tax) Act 1967 and Finance Act 2018.

He said the bill is to enforce tax measures that were announced in the Budget 2023 on Feb 24 and to implement government decisions regarding tax administration improvements that require amendments to related acts.

The Finance Bill 2023 and Windfall Profits Levy (Validation) Bill 2023 were passed by Dewan Rakyat on April 3.

On the Windfall Profits Levy (Validation) Bill 2023, Sim said the implementation of the bill does not incur any additional expenditure involving the government.

He said the government would continue to levy extraordinary profits to generate additional revenue that could be used to fund the country’s development programmes.

“For that purpose, the Windfall Profit Levy (Oil Palm Fruit) Order 2023 was gazetted on Jan 31, 2023, to impose and collect levies on the production of palm fruit effective from Feb 1, 2023.

“This order has already been tabled in the Dewan Rakyat on Feb 23, 2023,” he added.

- Bernama