Three Financial Bills Passed In Senate

KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 (Bernama) -- The Senate Tuesday passed the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2012, Financial Reporting (Amendment) Bill 2012 and Labuan Companies (Amendment) Bill 2012.

The Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2012 seeks to allow taxpayers to claim for deductions for donations for religious purposes.

The Bill, also allow a taxpayer to claim for deductions for contributions to the construction, improvement or maintenance of a public building for religious purposes.

The Financial Reporting (Amendment) Bill 2012, which seeks to enable the Financial Reporting Foundation to oversee the functions of the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board, was also passed.

The Bill, which was tabled by Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussin, seeks to make the foundation more inclusive and reflective of the developments of Malaysia's financial reporting system.

The amendment also seeks to allow the Securities Commission and Bank Negara to modify accounting standards to ensure financial stability.

Awang Adek said the amendment of the Labuan Companies (Amendment) Bill 2012 would become a catalyst for foreign investment in Labuan.