Johor to raise levy on property bought by foreign interests
JOHOR BARU: Johor is proposing to raise the approval levy for property acquisitions by foreign interests from 2% to 3% to strengthen land administration and support ongoing system upgrades, says Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi.
He added that the proposed revision is the first since the levy was introduced in 2014 and comes amid major improvements to the Johor Land and Mines Office (PTG) aimed at enhancing efficiency and transparency in land dealings.
'The state is looking at raising the approval levy from 2% (minimum RM20,000) to 3% (minimum RM30,000).
'These adjustments are necessary to support operational costs and reflect the upgraded level of service delivered to the public and investors,' he said in a Facebook post on Wednesday (June 18).
Onn Hafiz also said the proposal includes a revision of the land transfer registration fee for properties worth more than RM500,000, which would see an additional RM500 charge for every RM100,000 increase in property value.
He said that, in addition to the levy rate not being revised since 2014, the registration fee for land transfer transactions has also been imposed since 2004 without any adjustment.
'The proposals have been discussed by PTG with the Johor Real Estate Housing Developers Association (Rehda) and the Johor Bar committee to ensure that the fee adjustments remain fair and justifiable,' he said.
Onn Hafiz added that the revisions were part of a broader overhaul of the PTG system, which is on track for completion by July 31.
He said among the key changes was a major boost in the office's processing capacity for strata titles from 120 folders daily to 600.
'With the upgrade, we can reduce the backlog and shorten turnaround times significantly.
"With 12 new service counters and 54 new positions, including registrars, counter clerks and system officers, are being introduced to speed up processing and reduce waiting times.
'Approval periods for key land transactions are also being streamlined where applications involving foreign interests will be processed in just 21 days, down from the current 70 days, while local transactions will take only seven days, compared to 14 previously,' he added.
Onn Hafiz said these efforts demonstrate the state government's commitment to delivering efficient, transparent and responsive public services.
He also said that to support digital transformation, the state government has allocated RM1.55mil to upgrade the Computerised Land Registration System (SPTB), including modules for e-submission, e-search and e-consent.
Onn Hafiz added that private online searches for strata titles were now available and would soon be expanded to include landed properties.
'A further RM500,000 has been allocated for the development of the e-SBKS system, which will accelerate land-related processes such as conditional approvals, land use changes, boundary divisions and ownership transfers.
'The new system is expected to be launched in September and will reduce approval times from 510 days to just 53 days,' he said.
These enhancements would ease public dealings, speed up land approvals, and strengthen investor confidence in Johor's land administration, he added.
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