Re: The Epic
PASIR GUDANG: Foreigners buying properties in Johor beginning from January next year will have to pay higher processing fees of property ownership instead of the flat rate of RM10,000 now.
Under the new rate, foreigners would have to pay between 4% and 5% of the sales price of the properties.
“For instance, a foreigner buying a RM1mil bungalow, he or she will have to fork out at least RM50,000 in processing fee to own the property,’’ State Housing and Local Government executive councillor Datuk Abdul Latif Bandi told a press conference after opening the Green Industry seminar organised by the Pasir Gudang Municipal Council yesterday.
He said the new rate would be implemented not only on new properties but also properties in the secondary market.
“They now pay a flat rate of RM10,000 for residential, commercial and industrial properties and it is unfair to the state government,’’ he said.
He said the the flat rate had been around for so long and that the state government was the one losing the revenue that it was supposed to get from foreigners.
Abdul Latif said with Iskandar Malaysia becoming the hot spot for investors, including foreign property buyers, the time was “right” for Johor to introduce the new ruling.
He also said foreigners were no longer allowed to buy properties in the secondary market from locals but they could buy them from foreigners who owned the properties.
“The new ruling is only for foreigners, locals are not subject to it,’’ he said, adding that while Johor continued to welcome foreign property buyers, the state also wanted to protect the interest of locals.
Asked whether the new ruling would have impact on the Iskandar property market, Abdul Latif said it was unlikely to happen as the new rates were reasonable.
He said compared with Penang and the Klang Valley, the soon-to-be implemented fees for foreigners buying properties in Johor were much lower than in those two places.