KUALA LUMPUR: A total of RM6.12 billion of windfall tax from the palm oil industry has been collected and deposited into the Federal Consolidated Fund from 1999 to 2023.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is also Finance Minister, said out of this total, the government has allocated RM5.84 billion for the subsidisation of cooking oil under the Cooking Oil Price Stabilisation Scheme in the same period.
"All windfall tax collections will be deposited into the Federal Consolidated Fund and the use of the funds must comply with the annual budget provisions approved by the Parliament.
"Additionally, the government (through the collection of tax) also allocates funds to various ministries to finance national development programmes and projects that benefit the public.
"These initiatives include improving and building infrastructure and public facilities, enhancing health and education services and helping the public cope with the rising cost of living, particularly for vulnerable groups and the B40 group," he said in a parliamentary written reply.
Anwar said this in response to Bakri Jamaluddin (PN-Tangga Batu) who enquired about the total of windfall tax collected from the palm oil industry between 2019 to 2023, as well as to how the revenue was used and spent by the government.
Previously, the Plantation and Commodities Ministry said it plans to review the windfall tax in the 2025 Budget to allow the tax collection to reflect the current palm oil prices in the industry.
Its minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani said the current formula used to calculate the tax was no longer applicable to the production of palm oil.
He added that the ministry will collaborate with the Malaysian Palm Oil Board to review the mechanism and ensure the collection of tax could be returned to planters.