Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim stressed that the government has no plans to review the individual tax relief amount which has long remained at RM9,000 for income and RM3,000 for life insurance premiums.
However, he, who is also the Minister of Finance, explained that the government is always committed to improving tax incentives through a more targeted approach, as announced in Budget 2025.
In a written statement in the Dewan Rakyat, Anwar said that among the improvement measures introduced include expanding the scope of tax relief for parental treatment which now also includes grandparents.
In addition, the scope of health screening has also been expanded to include the purchase of self-examination equipment and disease detection tests.
He also announced that a special relief has been introduced for first-time housing loan interest payments, with a limit of up to RM7,000 for the purchase of a house priced below RM500,000 and up to RM5,000 for houses valued between RM500,000 and RM750,000.
In an effort to increase the people's disposable income, the government is also reviewing the individual income tax structure for the range of RM35,001 to RM100,000, with a two percentage point reduction starting from the 2023 assessment year.
According to Anwar, although there is no revision to the basic rate of tax relief, this targeted approach is seen as more effective in targeting assistance to those who are truly in need, without affecting the country's fiscal position.
