Foreign workers to pay 80% of annual levy, employers 20%

KUALA LUMPUR: The annual levy for extension of employment duration of foreign workers will be paid by both the foreign workers and employers.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said today that foreign workers in the construction industry will have to fork out 80% of the RM10,000 annual levy while the balance 20% will be paid by employers.
"We expect to raise about RM1 billion in three years from this exercise," he told reporters at the Rehda Institute CEO Series 2018 Annual Property Developers Conference.
He said the Human Resource Ministry will announce the effective date of the changes to the levy programme. 
The ministry previously announced that skilled foreign workers in the construction industry who have worked here for 10 years can have their permits extended for up to three years.
The levy to be paid for the extension is RM10,000 per year, which is paid by employers.
Meanwhile, Lim urged property developers to pass on the savings from the exemption of Sales and Services Tax on construction services to home buyers by reducing house prices.
In his keynote address, he said property developers should reduce house prices instead of offering more freebies, warning that the government may reconsider the exemption if house prices are not lowered.