INDIVIDUAL tax relief will be expanded under Budget 2027 to cover pet vaccination and the adoption of pets from registered centres, alongside wider relief for medical care, education and lifestyle expenses.
Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced the measures when tabling the budget in Parliament today.
Explaining the new provision for pet-related expenses, Anwar said the relief would cover different types of animals, including cats, butterflies and snakes.
“The government will also expand medical tax relief to cover postnatal care services, while relief for the care of parents and grandparents will no longer be limited to healthcare expenses,” he added.
Education relief will be widened to cover all fields of study and tuition fees for children, while lifestyle relief will include subscriptions to artificial intelligence (AI) services.
Anwar also announced that the individual tax relief limit, which had remained unchanged since 2010, would be raised from RM9,000 to RM12,000.
He said the measures took into account the financial pressures faced by the middle-income M40 group, which continues to grapple with the rising cost of living.
Separately, resident individual income tax rates for those in the RM70,000 to RM150,000 chargeable income brackets will be reduced by one percentage point.
The rate for chargeable income between RM70,000 and RM100,000 will fall to 18%, while the rate for the RM100,000 to RM150,000 bracket will be reduced to 24%.