The government is moving to prevent high-net-worth individuals from abusing Langkawi and Labuan’s tax-free status to purchase luxury cars at lower prices.
Prime minister Anwar Ibrahim announced during the tabling of Budget 2026 that there will be a ceiling price of RM300,000 for tax exemptions for vehicles purchased in the duty-free islands starting January 1, 2026.
Purchasing high-value luxury, sports and supercars in Langkawi to evade import and excise duties – which would otherwise push prices to millions of ringgit – has hitherto been a widely-accepted practice, so much so that carmakers such as Ferrari and Porsche previously quoted duty-free prices for their cars.
While cars registered on these islands are meant to stay there, they are allowed to leave the duty-free areas for up to 90 days per year. This has opened the exemptions up for abuse, with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MCCC) having busted a tax evasion syndicate last year. Anwar said the duty exemptions were meant to be enjoyed by those living in Langkawi, not rich Peninsular Malaysians.
We should point out that the RM300,000 cap applies to the value of the car, meaning that this is likely before taxes are applied. Still, this would eliminate nearly every new sports car in Malaysia – the Lotus Emira V6, for example, carried a tax-free price of RM456,900 when it was launched in 2022. Even the Toyota GR Supra Track Edition costs RM441,000 tax-free.
The closest sports car we could find to slide under the RM300k cap is the BMW Z4 sDrive20i, priced at RM298,800 before duties (RM501,800 in Peninsular Malaysia). This means cars like the base model Porsche 718 Boxster (RM545,000 in Peninsular Malaysia) and Cayman (RM585,000) will not be eligible.
Duty exemptions are still applicable for hot hatches such as the Honda Civic Type R and Toyota GR Corolla, which carry tax-free prices of RM219,900 and RM226,000 respectively. However, the 90-day limit would defeat the purpose of these cars, which are meant to be daily driven.
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…this would eliminate pretty much every sports car in Malaysia… except the iconic Mazda MX5
it only eliminates thieves and crooks vvips who didnt pay tax on their supercars
The rich can pay smart people who knows people that will easily bypass this law. Who stops them from declaring a RM 299,999 Rolls Royce.
what u think so easy to forge sale price documents like what FAM and JPN did ? rolls royce is imported which means you would need to colloborate with a syndicate at the origin country side
vvips had been evading tax on their supercars for decades thanks to being aided and abetted by the convict former PM MO1. only now the brave and courageous PMX had the bravery to stop those thieves.
Road tax evasion only started surging to unprecedented levels after the stupid policy of eliminating the display of physical road tax on windshields. Pakai otak la sikit.
Pakai otak sendiri sikit. Road tax evasion been happening since ages ago, with some syndicates even offering fake road tax sticker.
top-tier vvip road tax evasion happened lwhen the cars were registered in Langkawi or East Malaysia, but driven in peninsula. and second avenue is using cloned 10-year-old scrap cars from singapore
road tax evasion been happening long ago with langkawi/labuan loopholes, also lawmakers and mnonarchy are entitled to tax free cars. in fact last time students who studied abroad can also import one car without AP .
Korang yang bodoh. ROAD TAX EVASION. Not just “LUXURY CAR” road tax evasion. Buta huruf ka?? Check the statistics. An increasing amount of REGULAR cars do not have road tax and insurance renewed because it has become harder to enforce without any visible indication for enforcement officers to see at a glance! With Luxury Cars, it has become even EASIER. Look at Ops Luxury. Didn’t even need to transit via duty-free zones like Langkawi and Labuan. Just get recond supercars but don’t pay road tax and insurance.
two points in rebuttal 1. yes they can ignore roadtax & insurance, but they will get caught as what you mentioned in Ops Luxury criminals nowhere to run or hide. and 2. if vvip evade tax then why shouldnt the b40 and m40 do the same? everyone follow the example set led by vvips .
pity those rich people who dont want to pay tax but want to show off
The govt should tackle the root cause which is the usage of car outside labuan/langkawi more than 90 days. Surely these fellas can be tracked & therefore, once 90 days car not returned, actions be taken against owner such as confiscation of the car followed by auctioning off and proceeds goes to govt. When your enforcement is strict, surely people will comply and stop abusing. Of course this means govt staff needs to work harder and be more alert who is abusing the law.
But as usual, easy way out is always being implemented which is the cap of 300k, so that those tasked with responsibilities can continue to zzz on the job no need to work so hard. In the end, those who genuinely want to own a luxury car but willing to comply the 90 days rule is being penalised……
This gomen is all wayang only, so whatever they do is more for show than bring any real change.
Enforcement needed to improve all over government dept. Agreed!
But this 300k limit is also a good idea since if u can afford a 1mil car, please pay your dues.. in fact that is good for those real millionaires. No fake millionaire will buy these cars to compete for attention..
actually the way the riches play is like this, they have four sports cars inside langkawi, every three month recycle one to mainland to drive and do maintenance in mainland because cheaper cost.
that makes no sense. what if i am not a billionaire and i can only afford to buy max 2 cars? in actual reality the superrich will register 4 cars in langkawi and store all 4 at mainland. owner wont even bother to abide by the rules.
I like
90 days? Heck these cars probably never even been to langkawi
They are there though not 100%. U will be surprised that that tech will be flown to the island just to inspect the cars and ensuree everything are tip top before the owner ‘free’ it from the island. Its not just kept there but maintained.
Its still cheaper than owning+maintaining the car in the mainland. These techs are not any normal mechanic but certified to work on exotic cars.
These are the sort of good ones. If you really check how many of these labuan langkawi cars are in kl you will be dam surprised
Kahkahkah..
Padan muka kau setan..
-ACIK BIFOTI-
Many netizens already called them outdated cars compared to New Generation Vehicles.
So it’s helping the rich not to buy wrong cars.
thats like saying a rolex is outdated than a casio. sour grapes.
looks like malaysian can ride only junkies on the road, wat a sad country
soon even junkies will be scrapped in exchange for RM4k payment. u guys can take the bus or walk .