PETALING JAYA, Jan 19 – The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) is lobbying the government to lower car excise dutiesto make cars more affordable, said its president Datuk Aishah Ahmad today.

Aishah said that Malaysians were currently paying eye-watering excise duties of between 65 to 105 per cent on top of 10 per cent in sales tax.

“If you buy a RM100,000 car, RM55,000 goes to duties,” she said in a press conference today.

“We’re lobbying for the excise duties to be lowered to be in line with other Asean countries,” she said. “Thailand’s excise duty is about 35 per cent.”

Aishah said that the government told MAA it cannot lower excise duties as Malaysians currently pay about RM6 billion in excise taxes on cars per annum and the government needs the money.

The cost of cars in Malaysia is a contributing factor to Malaysian household debt reaching RM561.5 billion last August or 78 per cent of GDP, the second highest level in Asia.

It is also a major source of discontent among the many Malaysians who know they are paying much higher prices for cars than their counterparts in many developed and developing countries such as Thailand, Australia and the US.

Models such as the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord which are common place in most other countries and even used as taxis in some countries are priced out of reach of most Malaysians.

The lack of good public transport also means that most Malaysians have no choice but to rely on private transport.

The Malaysian government is trying to cut its budget deficit and debt by reducing public subsidies and raising money throughprivate finance initiatives such as the recent RM10 billion sukuk offering via the Ministry of Finance company Pembinaan BLT.

The Najib administration is hoping to trim the budget deficit to 5.4 per cent this year from 5.6 per cent last year.

The Asean free trade agreement came into effect last year which means cars with 40 per cent Asean content have no import taxes but the high excise taxes have helped prevent prices of cars from coming down.

--

MCOBA-Mail adalah Saluran E-mel Rasmi The Malay College Old Boys Association. 
URL: http://www.mcoba.org.