Malaysia has a distinct tax disadvantage for foreign investors who wish to invest in our property trust/REIT as they are being taxed at 28% tax compared to our neighbor Singapore which is only a mere 10%.[revised last year]

As reported in The Star, this distinct limitation was voiced out recently by a Securities Commission (SC) official, SC issues and investment director Kris Azman Abdullah who was at a real- estate investment conference.

He considered that it’s a stumbling block for the Malaysian REIT market. To make the REIT markets to be attractive, it has to be internationally compatible.

He further noted that the SC would recommend :-

• lowering or abolishing of the withholding tax to the Finance Ministry.
• to consider allowing tax-free dividends at unit holder level for a five-year period

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