Tax deduction of 7% for individuals who contribute to M'sian Greening Programme, says Takiyuddin

KUALA LUMPUR: Members of the public who contribute to Yayasan Hijau Malaysia for the "Malaysian Greening Programme: 100 Million Tree Planting Campaign" will be given tax deductions, says Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan.

The Energy and Natural Resources Minister said the tax deduction will be made under Section 44 (11 C) of the Income Tax Act 1967 with a deduction of 7% for individuals and 10% of the total annual aggregate income for companies.

"Yayasan Hijau Malaysia plays an important role and encourages the public (to contribute) with this tax relief," he said during the question and answer session at the Dewan Rakyat Wednesday (Nov 24).

He said this in response to a supplementary question from Steven Choong Shiau Yoon (Ind-Tebrau) on the most active agencies in the programme.

Takiyuddin said that apart from Yayasan Hijau Malaysia, the Peninsular Malaysia Forestry Department, Sabah Forest Department, Sarawak Forest Department and the state forestry departments in the peninsula, as well as several non-governmental organisations (NGOs), were also actively involved in the Malaysian Greening Programme.

He told the House that to date, a total of 23,746,874 trees had been planted nationwide through the programme and the number of valuable species in the Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable and Near Threatened categories was 6,451,142 comprising 322 species.

He also said that a total of 4,139 people used the "Penghijauan Malaysia" mobile application as of Nov 22.

According to him, apart from the application, a special website can also be accessed through the link www.100jutapokok.gov.my by all government agencies, the private sector and the public to record tree planting data either by agencies or individuals.

"The 'Penghijauan Malaysia' operating system does not classify data from rural and urban areas. However, the data is classified according to state, agency or individual grower and type of trees,” he added.

The Malaysian Greening Programme: The 100 Million Tree Planting Campaign was launched on Jan 5, 2021. - Bernama