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Malaysia: Govt won’t revise credit card tax policy

Malaysia government has no immediate plans to revise the 50-ringgit annual service tax on credit and charge cards, Prime Minister Najib Razak was quoted by the StarBiz as saying.

Despite public complaints, Najib said it was too soon to talk about a revision as the matter was just recently announced in the 2010 budget.

“The Government also needs revenue. If we can’t hike up (the price of) anything, it would be hard for us. Who is going to fund the nation’s development?”

He was speaking to reporters at a press conference after attending Tenaga Nasional Berhad’s 60th anniversary celebration at the TNB Sports Complex yesterday.

Najib announced the proposal to impose a service tax of 50 ringgit for each main credit and charge card, and 25 ringgit on supplementary cards in his 2010 budget. (1$=3.5 ringgit)

If implemented, financial analysts predicted that at least 30percent of the holders of 11 million cards in circulation who have more than one card will have to pay 100 ringgit every year.

Najib had earlier pointed out that the public should look at the overall benefits offered by the government in the budget, including an additional 1,000-ringgit tax relief and a reduction at the top of the taxable income tier from 27 percent to 26 percent.

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