Land Tax in Malaysia

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Land tax is the tax payable by the land owner to the State Authority through the Land Office. In Islamic economic, land tax is called kharaj. According to Johari and Ibrahim (2010), “kharaj means revenue, tax, rent, rate, lease, produce, income, wages, etc. received from land which the Muslim jurists call kharaj land”. Al-kharaj is an Arabic word that origin from Greek and used in Rome, Ancient Greek, and Byzantine which means tax. Kharaj refer to land tax in history of Islam. Imam Abu Obaid said that the agriculture tax received from non-Muslim owners of the lands also kharaj.

In Malaysia, the land tax must be fully paid from 1st January each year and will be in arrears on 1st June each year. Land tax must be paid once a year to the State Authority. The annual tax rate calculated based on the land area (in square meters), real terms, categories and classes of land. Land tax payments can be made online and manually. Land tax payment through online will be given a 5% discount. Percentage of tax collection through online in Melaka increased and vice versa for manually way from April until August 2013. In April, the percentage achievement of assessment fees online is 0.27% and continued to rise to 1.19% in August while percentage of land tax collection manual in April was further reduced to 99.73% and 98.81% in August (Pejabat Tanah dan Galian Negeri Melaka, n.d.).

Kharaj imposed by the early Muslims on the authorities of the Qur’an. Then this tax called as an Al-kharaj and fixed either per unit of land in the form of cash or share of the harvest in kind. Survey of these lands was carried out and kharaj was imposed according to the rates fixed per unit of land on different categories of crops. For HR & Widiastuti, ...

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Johari F. (2010). The Dynamism in The Implementation of Al-Kharaj During The Islamic Rule (634-785AD). Jurnal Syariah, Jil. 18, Bil. 3 (2010) 629-658.

Laman Web Rasmi Pejabat Tanah dan Galian Negeri Melaka- Kalkulator Kadar Cukai Tanah Setahun. Retrieved October 4, 2013, from http://ptg.melaka.gov.my/main/kadarcukaitanah.php

Laman Web Rasmi Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan Taman Perindustrian Hi- Tech Kulim. Retrieved October 4, 2013, from http://www.pbttphtk.gov.my/faq_2

Nezhad M. Z. (n.d.). Tribute (Kharaj) as a Tax on Land in Islam. International Journal of Islamic Financial Services, Vol.5, No.1.

Orhanlu, C. (1990). Kharaj in Ottoman Turkey in Encyclopaedia of Islam. Leiden – New York, E. J. Brill, New Edition, Vol. IV, pp.1053-1055.

Salasal S. M. M. (1998). The Concept of Land Ownership: Islamic Perspective. Buletin Geoinformasi, Jilid 2, (pg 285-304).