KUALA LUMPUR, 13 Nov: Pakatan Rakyat (PR) objects to the increase of the assessment tax which will be imposed by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) in 2014.
Member of Parliament for Batu, Tian Chua, said that the rate of tax imposed on the people of the Federal Territory is inappropriate.
He said that there is no uniform rate of increase according to areas; when there are places that increase by 150 percent while the others go up by 20 and 30 percent.
“PR MPs do not know what criteria are taken into account for the increase in the tax rate,” he said in a press conference here at the Parliament lobby today.
Also present was the Member of Parliament for Lembah Pantai, Nurul Izzah Anwar, the MP for Kepong, Dr Tan Seng Giaw, and the MP for Seputeh, Teresa Kok.
Tian Chua said that he will request a meeting between the MP for the Federal Territory and DBKL to discuss the matter.
“DBKL should be aware that city dwellers will be the first the face the pressure of inflation compared to communities in other areas,” he said.
Meanwhile, Izzah wants the people to compare the DBKL Mayor, Datuk Ahmad Phesal Talib, with the former Mayor who increased revenue without increasing the assessment rate.
“The previous Mayor did not burden the citizens. But the new Mayor, there has not even been a dialogue for the increase in the tax, not only have the people not been informed, but neither have Member of Parliaments,” she said.
Prior to this, the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association (FOMCA) hopes that the DBKL will not dramatically increase the assessment rate, thus burdening property owners.
Previously, DBKL announced that it will evaluate and standardise the assessment rate on 500,000 property units under the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur; where action will be implemented since the agency has not assessed since 1992, and it is required based on several factors.
