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Malaysia To Enhance Labuan's Tax Environment,
by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong
Friday, September 14, 2007
Malaysian Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has announced that
the tax regime for companies in the Labuan International Offshore Financial
Centre will be made more flexible, to boost the jurisdiction's international
competitiveness.
Abdullah stated in his 2008 budget speech that in future, companies registering
in the Labuan offshore sector will have the option of having their offshore
business income taxed under the Income Tax Act 1967, in addition to under the Labuan
Offshore Business Activity Tax Act 1990.
"In the light of greater global competition, we need to ensure that Labuan
remains competitive as an international offshore financial centre. Given that
investors in Labuan undertake a wide range of financial services, a flexible
tax regime is necessary," the Prime Minister explained.
The Labuan Offshore Business Activity Tax Act 1990 (as amended 2004) provides
for the reduction or complete exemption of income tax in respect of certain
business activities carried on by offshore companies in Labuan. Chargeable profits
derived by an offshore company from an offshore trading activity are subject
to tax at a rate of 3%. An offshore company which carries on an offshore non-trading
activity is exempt from income tax altogether.
The Income Tax Act 1967 applies to any activity other than offshore business
activity carried on by an offshore company, meaning that they pay normal taxes.
The Labuan IOFC, which celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2006, is home to
over 300 financial institutions providing a comprehensive range of financial
services, both conventional and Islamic, including offshore banking, investment
banking, insurance and insurance-related activities, investment holding, trust,
fund management and leasing. These institutions serve more than 5,500 offshore
companies registered in the Labuan IOFC. In addition, the Labuan International
Financial Exchange (LFX) further complements capital-raising activities in the
IOFC, allowing for listing and trading of financial instruments by international
issuers, especially from the Asia-Pacific region.
Abdullah also announced in his budget speech earlier this month a number of
measures aimed at boosting the competitiveness of Malaysia as a business and
investment location. These included an additional 1% cut in corporate tax to
25% effective 2009, and deregulation of the Islamic finance industry in line
with the government's stated objective of creating one of the world's leading
centres for Islamic finance.
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