KUALA LUMPUR: The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) has thanked the government for extending the Green Tech Financing Scheme for another three years in next year’s budget.
It also expressed its appreciation for accepting the proposal to recognise intellectual property rights as collateral for financing to assist in SMEs excess funding as well as the reduction of time bar for raising income tax assessment or additional assessment from six to five years. The FMM welcomed the reduction in individual income tax by one per cent in the Budget 2013 announced by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in Parliament on Friday.
“However, the reflection in rate should have been effected across the board to provide relief also to the middle class and knowledge workers with taxable incomes above RM50,000 per annum,” it said in a statement.
The FFM also welcomed the government’s review of the Real Property Gains Tax (RPGT) to curb speculative activities in the real property market.
“It will have a potential impact on the economy as a whole. The tax incentives to revive housing projects will also bring relief to affected house owners,” it added.
The extension of Research and Development (R&D) allowances for commerialisation to the non-resourced based sector was also applauded by the FMM. But it noted that an automatic double deduction incentive on R&D expenses would have been a more direct and effective boost to innovation and R&D activities for companies. — Bernama