A residential area is pictured under construction at Puncak Alam in Selangor November 1, 2018. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 — The government will impose a 5 per cent Real Property Gains Tax on all Malaysians and raise this by the same amount for foreigners, said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.

When tabling Budget 2019, he said this was to streamline the tax on property sales.

“For companies, individuals who are not Malaysians or hold permanent residency, the RPGT rate will increase from 5 per cent to 10 per cent.

“For individual citizens and permanent residents, the rate will increase from zero per cent up to 5 per cent,” said Lim.

The RPGT is currently a tiered tax that ranges from 30 per cent for property sold inside the first year of its date of purchase to zero per cent after five full years of ownership.