KUCHING: A new land tax rate will be introduced to match the increasing market value of real estate in Sarawak beginning Jan 1 next year.
Concerned about the people’s well-being and to support economic growth in Sarawak, the government will continue to implement various infrastructure development and public facilities.
“This constant development raises the market value of real estate in Sarawak. From 1994 to 2022, the real estate market increased in value by 75-200 percent on average.
“Intensive development in urban areas also produces overflowing development to the surrounding area.
“This overflow has justified the need to upgrade land in an area. For example, suburban land was upgraded to town land. In fact, country land was upgraded to town land,” it said.
According to a press release issued on Dec 28 by the Land and Survey Department, the department undertook a research and comparison of land tax rates in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah in collaboration with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Urban Development.
The government has approved the revision of the Sarawak land tax on June 16, 2022, based on the study’s findings and stipulations in Section 30(5) of the State Land Code. For the record, the current land tax has been in place since 1994.
According to the gazette of June 30, 2022, only 59,710 land title deeds are affected by this modification. This represents only 8 percent of the total 734,388 title deeds registered in Sarawak.
The new land tax rates are for:
* shophouse use from RM0.22 to RM1.62 a square metre;
* commercial use other than shophouses and for port use, mining and minerals are from RM0.20 to RM1.46 per square metre;
* industrial use from RM0.09 to RM0.43 per square metre;
* office use and mixed development from RM0.05 to RM0.23 per square metre;
* recreational use from RM0.03 to RM0.12 per square metre;
* use in the oil and gas industry at the rate of RM0.54 per square metre;
* other land uses from RM0.02 to RM0.08 per square metre; and
* agricultural land with an area of more than 100 acres (40.47 hectares) (Commercial Farms), the new land tax rate is RM30 per hectare.
A tax rate of RM25 per hectare is collected as land tax while RM5 per hectare is collected by the department for local authorities to replace the plantation levy.
The tax review excludes agricultural land with an area of less than 100 acres and residential land, which were taxed in 2016.
In addition, Sarawak’s new land tax is comparatively low in comparison to land taxes levied by other states.
This tax rate will take effect on Jan 1, 2023, and landowners will be able to request a revised tax review at the Divisional Land and Survey Department.
Beginning January, the general public can obtain more information by visiting the department’s website at https://landsurvey.sarawak.gov.my.
