KUCHING – Some 8% of landowners will have higher quit rent effective January 1, 2023 following an approved revision on June 16 under Section 30(5) of the Sarawak Land Code.
Based on the revision gazettement on June 30, a total of 59,710 land titles, or 8% from a total of 734,388 registered land titles in Sarawak, will be affected.
According to a statement by the Sarawak Land and Survey Department, the current rate has been used since 1994.
The new quit rent rates will increase from 22 sen to RM1.62 per sq m for shophouses; from 20 sen to RM1.46 per sq m for other commercial use aside from shophouses and ports, mining, mineral and trace element use; from 9 sen to 43 sen per sq m for industrial use; from 5 sen to 23 sen per sq m for office and mixed development use; from 3 sen to 12 sen per sq m for recreational use; to 54 sen per sq m for oil and gas industry use; and from 2 sen to 8 sen per sq m for the use of other land.
Meanwhile, for commercial plantation land exceeding 40.47ha, the new rate is RM30 per ha.
This rate is RM25 per ha for quit rent, while RM5 per ha is collected by the local government to replace the plantation levy.
“The quit rent revision does not involve land tax abolished in 2016, that is farm land below 100 acres and residential land,” said the department.
The department noted that the new quit rent rates in Sarawak are among the lowest compared with those imposed in other states in Malaysia.
Landowners can review the new quit rent at their district land and survey departments, while further information can also be obtained on its website starting January 1, 2023.
The department said that as the government is committed to ensuring public well-being, many infrastructure and public amenities have been developed and will continue to be developed to speed up economic growth in the state.
It said continuous development also increases the overall land value, with the value increasing between 75% and 200% from 1994 to 2022.
Intensive development in the city area has also overflowed into the surrounding area, with some land categories being upgraded.
These include suburban land upgraded to town land, and country land upgraded to town land.
In line with the developments, the department, with the cooperation of the Natural Resources and Urban Development Ministry, conducted a study and quit rent rate comparison of several states in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah.
Based on the study, the government approved a revision of the quit rent on June 16 under the Section 30(5) Sarawak Land Code. – Borneo Post Online, December 28, 2022
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