The government will focus on reducing revenue leakage as well as tax incentives to encourage individuals to save for retirement and education.
Caretaker Finance Minister, Tengku Zafrul also said that tax policies and strategies must play a role in encouraging corporations to embrace and implement environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies, said Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
He noted that Malaysia has adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes priorities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent of Gross Domestic Product by 2030.
“We are also committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and have urged all government-linked investment companies, as well as government-linked companies, to set similar net-zero targets,” he said in his keynote speech at the 51st Study Group on Asia-Pacific Tax Administration and Research (SGATAR) Annual Meeting 2022 here today (October 18).
To support this effort, he said, the government is working towards carbon taxation and studying the feasibility of a carbon pricing mechanism.
“We have also proposed extending the Green Investment Tax Allowance and Green Income Tax Exemption for eligible green activities, and we expanded these to include solar and battery energy storage systems,” he said.
He also said that the government is committed to sustainability in the broadest sense beyond environment and in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which are targeted to be achieved by 2030.
