Latest news with #luxurytax
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Malaysia's new luxury tax a hard sell for Anwar as popularity wanes
Many Malaysians may find life's little indulgences suddenly beyond their reach from next month, when fresh taxes bite on premium goods and services like salmon and silk – and even haircuts – after the cash-strapped government said it would raise revenue from so-called luxury spending. Taxes of between 5 and 10 per cent will be imposed on 'discretionary and non-essential goods' as well as financial and beauty services and private education from July 1, the Finance Ministry said in a statement late on Monday. This means Malaysians will have to pay 5 per cent more for premium goods – ranging from king crab to cod, truffle mushrooms and essential oils – and an extra 10 per cent on their hobbies if they are looking to buy racing bicycles or antique artwork. These items all now come under the discretionary spending category. As these luxury items are not typically consumed by most Malaysians, they will not have much effect on inflation, according to the government. Basic necessities such as pet food will be exempt from the new sales tax. Photo: Shutterstock Basic necessities like chicken, rice, milk, medicines and pet food, however, will remain exempt from sales tax, along with construction materials and agricultural inputs like fertiliser, 'to avoid direct pressure on the cost of living' for most Malaysians, the government added.
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NBA Finals: Thunder and Pacers make history as first pair of non-luxury taxpayers
The Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers have reached the 2025 NBA Finals, and made some history in the process. The two small-market teams finished off their conference finals opponents in brisk fashion, with the Pacers finishing the job against the New York Knicks on Saturday night. As Spotrac's Keith Smith noted Wednesday, the Thunder-Pacers series will be the first Finals in which neither team was paying the luxury tax. Advertisement Per Spotrac, the Pacers ranked 18th in the NBA in payroll this season with a figure of $169,149,491, while the Thunder ranked 25th with $165,601,091. Meanwhile, the Knicks were fourth with $188,877,651, while the Minnesota Timberwolves, whom the Thunder beat in the Western Conference finals, were second at $202,790,231. The threshold for the tax was $170,814,000 this season, with 11 teams total exceeding that number. Seven of those teams made the playoffs. The Pacers and Thunder were both in the bottom half of NBA payrolls this season. (Photo by) (Steven Ryan via Getty Images) The luxury tax was instituted in 2002. Since then, every NBA Finals has reportedly featured at least one luxury tax team, though no taxes were paid in 2002 and 2005 due to a lack of basketball-related income. Of the 44 teams to reach the Finals, 26 have been taxpayers. Advertisement Of the 22 champions, 16 have been taxpayers. The non-taxpayers, per Smith: the 2006 Miami Heat, 2014 San Antonio Spurs, 2015 Golden State Warriors, 2017 Warriors (somehow) and 2020 Los Angeles Lakers. How did the Thunder and Pacers reach the NBA Finals with such cheap teams? While they reached this point with different philosophies, the Thunder and Pacers actually share fairly similar balance sheets. Both teams feature a pair of sizable contracts for their point guards and top big men, with the rest of the roster filled out with reasonable veteran deals and rookie contracts. The Thunder signed Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to a five-year, $172 million maximum rookie extension in 2021 and center Isaiah Hartenstein to a three-year, $87 million deal in free agency last offseason. That's two of their starters. Their other three are Lu Dort (a reasonable $16.5 million salary in 2024-25), Chet Holmgren (rookie contract) and Jalen Williams (rookie contract). Advertisement With some of the best young talent in the NBA on such cheap deals, the Thunder went out and bolstered their core with deals like Hartenstein and defensive ace Alex Caruso, whom they traded for then gave a four-year, $81 million deal. Meanwhile, Pacers stars Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam are both making $42,176,400 this season on very similar max extensions. The rest of their starters: Myles Turner ($19.9 million this season), Aaron Nesmith ($11 million) and Andrew Nembhard ($2 million). The only other Pacer making more than $10 million is key bench player Obi Toppin, at $12,975,000. With both teams, you can see a long-term plan coming to fruition, and no albatross contracts in sight. The Thunder represent a classic rebuilding plan of stripping the roster to the studs with the deal that sent away Paul George in exchange for Gilgeous-Alexander and a truckload of draft capital, while the Pacers retooled a group that had hit its ceiling with the Haliburton-Domantas Sabonis trade, then pushed further ahead with the Siakam trade. Advertisement Both teams are a model of small-market teams hitting the jackpot, though we should stress neither of these rosters will remain cheap for long. These teams are relatively cheap, for now No matter how the Finals go, every single young player on the Thunder is going to have an enormous pay raise coming. Gilgeous-Alexander will be eligible for a record five-year, $380 million supermax deal in 2026, while Holmgren and Williams will be eligible for $592 million in rookie max extensions. The Thunder have made clear they intend to pay up for Gilgeous-Alexander at least, but roster building would be a bit harder if they have those three deals in addition to Hartenstein on the books. OKC is the smallest market in the NBA, but has a big-market payroll in its future if it wants to keep everyone. Advertisement The good news for the Thunder, though, is every major contributor is already under contract for next season. The same cannot be said about the Pacers, who have Turner hitting free agency and in line for a major raise.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How do second-apron penalties limit Celtics? Here's one tangible example
How do second-apron penalties limit Celtics? Here's one tangible example originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston Back in March, when current Boston Celtics lead owner Wyc Grousbeck was asked about the dreaded 'second apron' in the NBA's new collective bargaining agreement, he noted that its biggest impact related to roster building, not money. Advertisement 'It's not the luxury tax bill, it's the basketball penalties,' Grousbeck told WEEI at the time. '… The basketball penalties mean that it's even more of a premium now to have your basketball general manager be brilliant and lucky. ' … I predict, for the next 40 years of the CBA, no one is going to stay in the second apron more than two years.' So, what exactly are these penalties that led Grousbeck to make such a bold prediction? Here's a list of the restrictions on teams that exceed the second apron of the luxury tax: Teams cannot sign a waived player who had a salary of at least $14.1 million Teams cannot use a trade exception generated by aggregating the salaries of multiple players Teams cannot include cash in a trade Teams cannot use a trade exception generated in a prior year First-round picks seven years out are frozen (unable to be traded) A team's first-round pick is moved to the end of the first round if they remain in the second apron for three out of five seasons If your eyes glazed over there, we don't blame you. That's a lot to digest. But the latest Celtics-related report provides a tangible example of how the second apron limits teams like Boston, which is currently $20 million over that threshold entering the offseason. Advertisement Longtime NBA journalist Marc Stein reported earlier this week that Boston may explore trading Jrue Holiday this offseason in its quest to trim salary and get under the second apron. On Wednesday, Stein's colleague Jake Fischer noted that 'multiple rival executives' believe the Celtics would need to include 'some form of incentive (such as draft compensation)' in such a deal to convince a team to take on the $104 million remaining on Holiday's contract. For starters, second-apron restrictions prevent the Celtics from including cash in a hypothetical Holiday trade, which means they'd need to go the draft pick route. But the second apron also prevents Boston from trading its 2032 first-round pick, which would create a ripple effect that would leave Brad Stevens and Co. with very limited draft resources to trade, as CLNS Media's Bobby Manning lays out here: Even if the Celtics can complete a trade of Holiday using one of the picks above, their lack of future selections complicates their ability to make other deals that may require draft picks as sweeteners, such as potentially moving big man Kristaps Porzingis and his expiring contract. Advertisement The draft pick restriction of the second apron is a big reason why the Los Angeles Clippers and Denver Nuggets were forced to let Paul George and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, respectively, walk in free agency for no return, and it's possible the Celtics could meet the same fate with Porzingis if they can't find a trade partner with their current assets. The Holiday example underscores the importance of Boston at the very least shedding $20 million in salary this summer to ensure the team isn't subject to the same second-apron penalties next offseason. That may require some hard decisions, but with Jayson Tatum already expected to miss most or all of the 2025-26 season as he recovers from Achilles surgery, the short-term pain may be worth the long-term gain.
