KUCHING, May 19 — The state government is still discussing with the federal government the return of the right over stamp duty under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) to Sarawak, Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg said today.
He said the state government feels that it should be returned to Sarawak as the revenue from stamp duty is collected through land transactions while Putrajaya maintains that it is part of the federal taxation.
“So, the federal government’s view on stamp duty is something we agree to disagree with,” he told reporters after officiating the Malaysia Book of Records for most participants wearing ethnic attire in choreographed dance performances at the waterfront here.
He said the state government views stamp duty as the basis under Articles 112C and 112D of the Federal Constitution for Putrajaya to give special financial grants to Sarawak and Sabah.
At a town hall session at Universiti Malaya with Sarawak students studying in peninsular Malaysia yesterday, he said that the duty is obtained through land transactions, and since the land is the property of Sarawak government, the proceeds should rightfully belong to Sarawak.
He said the state government had raised with the federal government to return the right over Stamp Duty to Sarawak when Pakatan Harapan (PH) was in power after the 2018 general election.
On March 9, 2019, Abang Johari said that at the moment stamp duty revenue went to the federal coffer, although based on MA63, what was collected in Sarawak and Sabah should rightfully be retained by the two states.
He had said this was because the administration of land matters in Sarawak and Sabah was under their respective land codes.
The issue of stamp duty was among those discussed with the Pakatan Harapan federal government under the then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
