Dr Wee: Govt should abolish RPGT on property disposed of after five years

KUALA LUMPUR: The government should abolish the real property gains tax (RPGT) imposed on properties disposed after a five-year period, says MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

"If the RPGT is imposed within a five-year period to curb speculative activities and transactions, I have no issue with this. But if it is imposed after five years, then it is not reasonable," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby on Monday (Nov 4).

The Ayer Hitam MP raised the RPGT issue in Parliament's Special Chambers, seeking clarification over the tax.

The government announced an RPGT of between 30% and 5% under Budget 2019 last year, depending on the time when the property is disposed.

The RPGT imposed on individual Malaysians is 5% for properties sold after the fifth year.

Under Budget 2020, the government agreed to enhance the RPGT by setting the market value on Jan 1,2013 as the property acquisition price for properties acquired prior to Jan 1,2013 compared to the previous base year of Jan 1,2000.

Under the previous administration, Dr Wee noted the RPGT was imposed only on properties that were disposed of within a five-year period to curb speculation.

"Many developers, house buyers and the general public hope that the RPGT is focused on the first five years as this is deemed to be speculative," he added.

He also said abolishing the RPGT on property disposed after five years would help stimulate the property sector.

In response, Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Amiruddin Hamzah said there are no immediate plans to abolish the RPGT as it has not reached the one-year implementation period.

As of October this year, he said the government had collected RM81.5mil in RPGT imposed on properties disposed after the five-year period involving 8,554 transactions.