KUALA LUMPUR: The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) has reiterated its call to the government to reduce the corporate tax rate to 20 per cent in the 2023 Budget.
FMM president Tan Sri Soh Thian Lai said the request had been made as part of its wish list prior to previous budgets, but was unsuccessful.
"Our members would like this upcoming budget to have a reduction in corporate tax.
"We raised this matter as one of our wish lists in the past but failed." He said the corporate tax rate should be reduced to 20 per cent from the current 24 per cent.
Soh said this at a media briefing in conjunction with the release of the FMM-Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) Business Conditions Survey for the first half of 2022 (1H2022), here, today.
The 2023 Budget is scheduled to be tabled in Parliament on Oct 7.
Soh said FMM's other wishes included a reduction in personal tax rate and moderation in energy costs, namely electricity and natural gas.
"The respondents have also proposed for the reintroduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) at a lower rate of four per cent."
He said the respondents also asked the government to strengthen the ringgit.
Held in collaboration with MIER, the 21st edition of the survey was carried out from July 9 to Aug 12, involving 794 respondents, 66.1 per cent of which comprised small- and medium-sized enterprises from 16 industry sub-sectors polled nationwide.