Powering up: An electric vehicle charging at a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur. — AZMAN GHANI/ The Star
IT was an early morning on the day after the Budget 2024 announcement.
I made plans to meet up with my old friend, Tom, over breakfast at our neighbourhood kopitiam.
While waiting for our orders to be served, Tom, being the environmentalist that he is, was eager to pick my brain about the Budget 2024 speech, and hear my thoughts about the government’s efforts in furthering the enviromental, social and governance (ESG) and women agenda.
Here’s how our conversation went:
Tom: Hey Jade, check out this Tesla car advertisement, and the price, it’s so expensive.
On top of that, I always hear about the challenge of electric vehicles (EV) charging station shortages. Although EVs are the way forward, I feel our government should do more in supporting the shift to EVs.
Jade: Well, the budget announcement last week touched on EVs and the government’s plans to increase EVs adoption as an alternative to fuel-driven cars.
There’s definitely a push to encourage EV growth as one of the measures to help our nation’s efforts in achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
To address the concern on charging stations or the lack of it, it is said that the government managed to obtain investments close to RM170mil from companies in the likes of Tenaga Nasional Bhd
, Gentari, and Tesla Malaysia to install 180 EV charging stations throughout Malaysia.
With this in place, it could help alleviate the availability issue of public EV charging stations.
Additionally, the government also extended the current tax relief for expenses incurred for installation, rental, or purchase of EV charging facilities until 2026 to encourage individuals to install the charging facility at home.
This relief was initially introduced in 2022 to support the development of the local EV industry and encourage domestic demand of EVs.
With the current increase of EV brands in the market like Tesla and BYD, making charging facilities widely available and affordable for home installation would be greatly welcomed by the public, potentially driving increased demand for EVs.
Tom: That sounds great. What if I do not install a station but have a subscription to use the EV charging facilities instead, do I get a tax relief on the expenses incurred?
Jade: The current relief includes the subscription to EV charging facilities. So, yes, you can claim this expense as a tax relief.
Since we are talking about EVs, another interesting point raised in the speech was on electric motorcycles.
With the same aim of encouraging EV adoption, the government will introduce a new “Skim Galakan Penggunaan Motosikal Elektrik” to encourage individuals to adopt the use of electric motorcycles.
Under this scheme, Malaysian individuals with an annual income of RM120,000 or less will be given a rebate of up to RM2,400 on purchases of electric motorcycles.
This would help broaden the range of environment-friendly vehicles accessible to a wider group of people.
Tom: Wow, that’s interesting. I’m glad to hear that the government will also include electric motorcycles as part of its plan towards developing a greener Malaysia.
Jade: With these initiatives proposed by the government, I am thinking whether I should change to an EV myself. I think it’s something worth considering.
By the way, I heard that your sister is thinking of returning to the workforce after taking a career break for a few years.
Tom: Yes, she is. With the increasing cost of living, she plans to return to the workforce after being a homemaker for close to five years, to ensure that they can support their children’s future education expenses.
Speaking of which, are there any incentives for women in a similar position as my sister?
Jade: From a tax perspective, the government has extended the tax incentive until 2028 for women returning to the workforce after a career break.
Upon qualifying for the incentive, tax exemption on the employment income earned of up to 12 months will be given to eligible women.
To qualify for this incentive, the individual would need to have at least three years of full-time work experience prior to their career break and should not have derived any employment income for a continuous period of at least 24 months prior to the return.
There is also a condition on the minimum monthly employment income and employment by a qualifying employer.
There are other criteria listed on the Talent Corp (M) Bhd website. It’s a good programme; your sister should check it out.
Tom: Thanks for highlighting this. I will definitely let her know.
At a glance, Budget 2024 seems to cover broad areas that intersects with different areas across the rakyat’s everyday life – be it from an environmental, women, or other social focused perspectives.
As these areas are closely linked to the government’s ESG agenda, we will have to wait and see if the proposed measures will prove to be effective.
Jade: You are spot on. At this moment, who knows what the outcome would be.
Nevertheless, a start is better than none. I always like the famous saying by Lao Tsu, “A journey of a thousand miles begin with a single step.”
Michelle Lai and Janice Lim are Global Employer Services Directors of Deloitte Malaysia. The views expressed here the writers’ own.
