Income Tax: Naikkan lagi penanda aras - Gaji bawah RM 3k takyah bayar income tax

Minimum taxable income may be raised to RM3,000
by Daniel Tan

GEORGETOWN (June 28, 2010): The federal government is looking into raising the minimum monthly income threshold before a person needs to pay income tax. Deputy Finance Minister Donald Lim said the level may be raised from RM2,500 currently, to possibly RM3,000, in view of the current economic situation.

"At the moment, if you earn more than RM 2,500 you will have to pay income tax, so the figure (of RM 2,500) will be increased," said Lim, after launching the prospectus for Tatt Giap Group Berhad here today.

However, he refused to give an exact figure, saying the issue still has to be discussed thoroughly and feedback from the industries and the people was still needed. He said, however, that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak had mentioned that the urban poor income level is at RM3,000, hinting that RM3,000 may be the figure the government is looking at.

"We will consider internally and get feedback from the society," he said. The move is to help reduce the burden of the poor when subsidies are reduced in the coming years.

"Malaysian citizens are not necessarily the ones who benefit from subsidies, with two to three million foreign workers in Malaysia," Lim said, in rationalising the move to remove subsidies.

"If we want to cut the subsidies, we must also help the poorer group," said Lim, adding that the poor will also benefit from job opportunities created by the implementation of the 10th Malaysia Plan. --theSun