Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar announced that a luxury tax will be implemented in May next year with a tax rate of 5% to 10%; however, he emphasized that this luxury tax will not be levied on tourists to avoid affecting the tourism industry. Malaysian media reported on Thursday (November 2) that Anwar pointed out in a written reply to MPs’ inquiries on Wednesday that the government would tax based on the price threshold of luxury goods such as jewelry and watches. He said that the specific implementation mechanism, commodity types and luxury goods tax rates will be announced after they are finalized and approved by the cabinet. Anwar pointed out that the Ministry of Finance and the Customs Department have consulted with various stakeholders and will take the opinions of all parties into consideration when drafting and formulating policies. "Luxury tax policy and legislation are currently in the final preparation stage." He said that in order to promote tourism, the government will not impose luxury tax on tourists. When Anwar presented the "2023 Budget" (commonly known as the "mini-budget") on February 24 this year, he already stated that the government would impose a luxury tax, but it was not implemented due to various reasons. At that time, Malaysian tourism industry players worried that the government’s tax on luxury goods would weaken Malaysia’s attractiveness as a shopping hotspot. Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Teo Keng Sin revealed on February 26 that the luxury tax will only target those who have incredible wealth but hardly have to pay tax. “For example, some people only pay the B40 tax rate (the lowest 40% of the country’s income earners), but they own 10 luxury cars at home.”