JOHOR BAHRU, July 23 – Johor would be able to achieve self-reliance if a quarter of tax revenue collected from the state is returned to it, Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim said.
His Royal Highness said a 25 per cent tax return allow Johor to sustain itself without needing to rely on assistance from other parties.
“We would not need to burden the federal government or endure a long wait for approval through applications,” he said in a statement posted on his official Facebook page last night.
Tunku Ismail's statement comes after recent incidents involving public facilities and development projects in the state.
Among issues he highlighted was the delay in the opening of Hospital Pasir Gudang, which was supposed to begin operations in phases starting this August but has now been postponed to January next year.
The 41-year-old crown prince also pointed to the recent disruption of the Immigration Department’s autogate system at the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar (BSI) Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine (CIQ) Complex here and the Sultan Abu Bakar Complex (KSAB) in Gelang Patah, in addition to other issues related to hospitals and flood mitigation projects.
“Following these shortcomings, I wish to convey to Johor residents how important it is for 25 per cent of the state’s income tax revenue to be returned to Johor,” he said.
This is not the first time His Royal Highness has made such a proposal. In December last year, Tunku Ismail requested that the federal government consider returning 20 to 30 per cent of the tax revenue collected from Johor.
At the time, he noted that the Johor government contributes between RM48 billion and RM49 billion a year in tax revenue to Putrajaya.
