Medini zone in Iskandar granted property gains tax exemption

Thought this is an interesting update: "Malaysia has granted a substantial tax break to a zone in a showpiece investment project near Singapore, a move likely to provide crucial support to a US$800 million (RM2.5 billion) initial public offering of the area's developer next year". Time to relook into investment strategy for this area?

Property gain tax changes (RPGT) from Malaysia 2014 Budget

Sharing update from 2014 Budget:

REAL PROPERTY GAINS TAX

* For gains on properties disposed within the holding period of up to 3 years, RPGT rate is increased to 30 percent.

* For disposals within the holding period up to 4 and 5 years, the rates are increased to 20 percent and 15 percent, respectively. Malaysian property firms with exposure to this tax change include UEM Sunrise, Mah Sing Group  and Tropicana Corp . 

* Raise the minimum price of property that can be purchased by foreigners to 1 million ringgit from 500,000 ringgit. 

* Prohibit developers from implementing projects that have features of Developer Interest Bearing Scheme (DIBS), to prevent developers from incorporating interest rates on loans in house prices during the construction period.

* Financial institutions are prohibited from providing final funding for projects involved in the DIBS scheme. Malaysia's top three banks are Maybank, CIMB and Public Bank.

Paying House Assessment Tax & Quit Rent

Afternoon all, just a quick note to share useful information from a friend on how to pay taxes for your properties in Johor:

1. House Assessment – Open main page of Majlis Perbandaran Johor Bahru Tengah and click on the ‘e-cukai’ at the ‘Public’ drop bar
a) http://www.mpjbt.gov.my/web/guest/home
b) http://210.187.76.162/obe/searchbil.asp#

2. Quit Rent – open website of Johor Government and click on the online payment. Refer guideline as attached herewith.
a) http://www.johordt.gov.my/ptj/
b) http://onlinepayment.johor.gov.my/

The guideline can be found here