The government is considering reducing its reliance on direct taxes and expanding its revenue sources. Government considers carbon tax!
According to Finance Minister Tunku Zafrul, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources will work together to levy a carbon tax (Cukai Karbon) to achieve a long-term low carbon development strategy. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Eastman Sabri had said in Parliament that Malaysia could be carbon neutral by 2050 at the earliest.
Carbon neutrality refers to the total amount of carbon dioxide or greenhouse gas emissions produced directly or indirectly by a country, company, product, activity or individual over a certain period of time, with positive and negative offsets achieved through the use of low-carbon energy instead of fossil fuels, reforestation, energy conservation and emission reduction to achieve relative “zero emissions”.
Currently, carbon neutrality is a global trend and there is a trend for high carbon industries to be taxed in the future. According to the World Bank, a carbon tax puts a direct price on carbon by defining a tax on greenhouse gas emissions (or more commonly, on the carbon content of fossil fuels).
A carbon tax discourages the use of fossil fuels and encourages the use of less polluting fuels, thereby limiting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Carbon dioxide is by far the most prevalent greenhouse gas.
