It was reported in January that Johor is considering a vacancy tax on unsold property as a means to reduce the overhang issue. Since then, there has been no new developments as the views of stakeholders are still being sought.
Now, with the double whammy of the Covid-19 outbreak, it looks like the proposal will be shelved indefinitely, sources told YES Paper.
“If this tax were to take effect, there would be a lot of pain for the stakeholders in the industry. It will make things worse,” an industry source who declined to be named said.
State Housing, Communication and Multimedia Committee chairman Dzulkefly Ahmad had earlier reportedly said that the government will take into account the current economic situation if the properties were unsold due to factors beyond the developer’s power. “It might not be fair,” he said.
As of June 2019, there were a total of 46,539 units of unsold property in Johor worth RM30.7bil as per statistics from the National Property Information Centre (Napic).
In April 2019, a new policy was implemented in Johor where property developers were required to submit a feasibility study before applying for planning permission from the local authority concerned.
