Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow provided these real-life examples to explain why many landowners are seeing their land tax rise by “a thousandfold” this year. “The fact is, those new land tax rates are what all landowners pay for industrial, residential, commercial and agricultural land. First Grade land in Penang is a premier, freehold and legally flexible land title restricted to Penang and Melaka under the National Land Code (Penang and Malacca Titles) Act 1963. The advantage of First Grade land, Chow explained, was that owners were free to use the land for various purposes without restrictions stated on the title. The state, he explained, had adopted a “current use” policy in determining land tax rates.

Source: The Star February 20, 2026 01:10 UTC