With the 6 per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) about to step into our lives on April 1, landlords have been reminded not to take advantage of it to hike up rental rates for residential properties.
The development of land or buildings used for residential, agricultural land or for general purposes are all exempted from tax, Senior assistant director of Customs II, Real Property, Construction and Professionals sector, Raizam Mustapha told Bernama.
“Any property in Malaysia categorised as residential is exempted (excluded) from GST,” she was quoted as saying.
“Whereas, buildings that are not deemed residential buildings are considered commercial and subjected to six per cent GST,” she said in a GST media briefing related to the property and housing sector here,” she was quoted further.
Maintenance bills for these properties are also exempted, she said, although rates are determined by the Joint Management Body (JMB) or Management Corporation (MC) of each residential buildings.
“For cleaning purposes, the JMB or MC may get the services of parties (companies) which are not registered for GST, which has a turnover not exceeding RM500,000,” she told Bernama.
