KUCHING: The Sarawak government is pressing ahead with its demand that the federal government return the right to collect stamp duty.
According to Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg, the governments are in negotiations so that revenue from stamp duty collection is given to Sarawak since land belongs to the state.
“That is why we are still discussing with the federal government about stamp duty. It is money obtained through land transactions and the land is the property of the state government.
“So why was the collection taken by the federal government? It should have been taken by us. And we are still negotiating this matter together,” he said.
He said this during a townhall session after his keynote address at the Sarawak Budget Discussion organised by Persatuan Mahasiswa Sarawak Universiti Malaya at Universiti Malaya (UM) in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.
He pointed out that matters related to stamp duty are part of the state government’s efforts to review the financial provisions of Article 112D and Article 112D (3) of the Federal Constitution.
“Therefore, we will continue to try to get that right back because it is part of Sarawak’s rights,” he stressed.
He added that the state government also continues to be committed to claiming all the eroded rights enshrined under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) Report.
In 2019, a Malaysian Insight report stated that negotiations related to the collection of Sabah and Sarawak stamp duty have reached a dead end.
This is following the Ministry of Finance reportedly not budging on the decision that all stamp duty collections in any part of the country belong to the federal government.
Sabah and Sarawak claim the right because the stamp duty collected in the state belongs to the state.
Sabah and Sarawak have long fought for their share of stamp duty collection as much-needed additional revenue.
Stamp duty is a tax levied on certain transactions, written instruments and documents that have financial, legal or commercial implications.
Documents and instruments required to be ‘stamped’ include sales and purchase agreements, rental agreements and, since 2009 and service agreements. There are two types of stamp duty namely fixed duty and ad valorem duty.
