More than just a linguistic relic

THE term “quit rent” used to make me shake my head. Quit what? Rent where? I knew it meant cukai tanah, but I never bothered with its origins because the costs were inconsequential.

A Tanjung Bungah terrace property was charged RM60 a year. A house in Island Glades with a large garden, RM80. A piece of farmland in Seberang Perai, RM3.

They were hardly worth a thought until Penang’s land-use rationalisation exercise saw some bills leap from RM136 to over RM51,000.

It turns out that the medieval origins had nothing to do with the land itself.

It was a fixed annual sum people paid to the lord of their region to “quit” or be free from feudal obligations to provide labour and goods.

These duties included military service as well supplying armed men, labourers, grain or livestock.

All land in England between the 1300s to 1500s was ultimately held by the Crown, so everyone who had rights to use land was technically a tenant.

Out of 370,000 land titles in Penang, 230,000 are First Grade. — Filepic

Hence the word “rent”.

By paying quit rent, those people were free to spend time with their families, work the land and focus on things like self-actualisation, which we take for granted today.

England stopped using the term centuries ago. People there now pay council tax.

In Singapore, they pay property tax now. Australians call theirs land tax.

Malaysia seems to be one of the rare countries still preserving this medieval linguistic relic.

Even more well preserved are First Grade land titles in Penang and Melaka, dating back to the British Straits Settlements.

(First Grade land is a premier, freehold title with minimal restrictions.)

When Malaya became Malaysia, the National Land Code (Penang and Malacca Titles) Act 1963 was enacted so that those archaic land titles could be integrated into the national system.

The trouble was, the English deed system did not specify land use, such as industrial, agricultural or commercial.

This led to absurdities where a commercial plot the size of two football fields paid only RM48 because it was once a coconut plantation.

The 1.6ha site in South Seberang Perai is now a thriving commercial area placing heavy stress on public infrastructure, yet the owner still paid the price of a few coconuts.

Under the new “current-use policy”, that same land is now taxed RM44,900.

Out of 370,000 land titles in Penang, 230,000 are First Grade.

To ensure all landowners are fairly treated and that Penang has enough tax revenue to finance its growth, the state has formed the Land Tax Concerns Coordination Committee with Pulau Tikus assemblyman Joshua Woo as the public liaison.

First Grade landowners facing steep increases may appeal before April 30.

Woo’s office can be contacted at 016-969 1758 for assistance.