IPOH: The government has yet to finalise the income threshold that will define the top 15 per cent (T15) of high-income earners who may be excluded from certain government subsidies next year.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the government is even prepared to change the category to include only the T10 - or top 10 high-income earners - for subsidy exclusion if the previous category is unsuitable.
He also refuted claims by some parties that the T15 category would be households earning RM12,000 and above.
"Some are upset because it's T15... Who said T15 is RM12,000? It hasn't been decided because we want to see if T15 can afford it.
"If they (tT15) cannot afford it, we might make it T10, or raise the income threshold for T15 to something higher than RM12,000, possibly RM15,000 or RM18,000 a month.
"Some are defending the T15 category despite some among them earning RM100,000 or even RM1 million a month. Do we want to defend that?
"If their income is low, we will take it into consideration as we do not want to burden the people. The important thing is that at least 85 per cent of Malaysians would not be affected," he said.
Anwar was speaking at the Perak PKR Convention at the Kinta Riverfront Hotel here today.
Also present were Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad, Perak DAP chairman Nga Kor Ming, PKR vice-chairman Chang Lih Kang, and Parti Amanah Negara vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa.
During the 2025 Budget tabling on Oct 18, Anwar said subsidies would be gradually reduced for the T15, with the savings used to improve infrastructure for boarding schools and public universities.
On Oct 21, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said the definition of the T15 income category, which will be excluded from several government subsidies next year, was still being refined.
Rafizi, however, confirmed that the T15 would not be solely defined by gross household income but also by factors like locality and basic household spending.