KUALA LUMPUR: The widely debated vacancy tax on unsold high-end properties might not be imposed next year as it is still being reviewed by the housing and local government ministry.
Its minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said the proposed tax, which has been presented to the National Economic Council meeting for discussion, is not an urgent matter for the ministry to resolve.
“We are reviewing it and it is not our priority currently. Let the (property) developers manage it.
“The vacancy tax idea only came around when we thought about unsold high-end properties, and it is not going to be implemented in 2021,” she told reporters here today, adding that the ministry’s priority is to ease house ownership for Malaysians.
“We want to make sure that the B40 and the M40 income groups will be able to purchase houses in a much easier way through the banks.”
There are currently 29,000 unsold high-end units in Malaysia worth RM29 billion.