Malaysia Postpones Sales Tax on Locally Manufactured Cars to Boost Vehicle Sales

The Government of Malaysia has announced the postponement of sales tax on locally assembled vehicles effective from June 2020 until the end of year 2020, following a sharp fall in vehicle sales in the five months ending May 2020. In addition, the Government has also decided to reduce the sales tax on imported cars to 5% from a previous 10%, according to Tan Sri Muhiyiddin Yassin, the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

With vehicle sales statistics for the month of May 2020 not being publicly available as of yet, the vehicles sales data for the 4 months ending April 2020 showed a 45% decline in sales volumes to 106,601 units compared to 192,971 units sold in the first four months of 2019. Vehicle sales during the month of April...