GEORGE TOWN, Dec 23 — The Penang state government has agreed to offer a 50 per cent rebate on quit rate rates for 2026.

Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow said the state exco had agreed on December 10 to increase the rebate rate for 2026 from 32.5 per cent to 50 per cent.

“This decision was made as an additional measure to ease the financial burden of landowners and to ensure that the transition to the new rates can be implemented gradually and in a more controlled manner,” he said.

He said the new rates will be in force for a minimum period of 10 years, as provided by law under the National Land Code (Act 828).

However, he added that the rebate is still subjected to the minimum quit rent rates.

“If the quit rent amount after the rebate is lower than the existing quit rent that was paid in the previous year, then they will need to pay the existing amount,” he said.

For example, if the quit rent was RM100 in the previous year and the new rate is RM150 so with the rebate it would be RM75, but the landowner will need to pay the minimum rate of RM100, which is the rate for the previous year.

“This approach is to ensure a balance between the interests of landowners and the state’s revenue requirements,” he said.

He said the state exco, on December 17, also agreed that landowners may submit appeals through the land office for reductions in quit rent, arrears and any outstanding late payment fees.

“Among the appeal cases to be considered included land replanted with rubber, oil palm, coconut, or fruit trees under any scheme whose tenure has ended within six years or less, land used for public purposes and land whose owners face hardships such as poverty, persons with disabilities (PWD), or loss of income due to disasters and other circumstances.

“We may consider appeals by First Grade landowners affected by changes in rates based on current land use, as well as landowners involved in the process of reclassification of land from rural to urban,” he said.

“This appeal mechanism is provided as a channel for landowners who are significantly affected by the implementation of the new quit rent rates,” he added.

The state government will also be granting a 100 per cent exemption on fines for arrears of quit rent and parcel rent from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026, involving total fine arrears amounting to RM25 million.

“This initiative aims to encourage landowners and parcel owners to pay their quit rent or parcel rent including any accumulated arrears,” he said.

He said the quit rent bills will be posted to all landowners in mid-January of 2026 but landowners may check and pay their bills online starting from January 2.

The state government implemented a review of the quit rent and reclassified rural lands to urban lands throughout Penang as per the provisions of Section 101 of the National Land Code (Act 828) on September 19

The review was gazetted on September 11 this year and will come into effect on January 1, 2026.

The implementation of the new quit rent rates involves nearly 370,000 land titles across the state of Penang, covering various land categories and uses, including residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, and other special categories.

The total number of land titles involved in the quit rent review is 378,329 titles, while the total number of land titles involved in the reclassification of land from rural to urban is 221,134.