16/03/2026

BIZ & FINANCE MONDAY | MAR 16, 2026

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S TAMP duty is applicable on all agree ments specified in the First Schedule of the Stamp Act 1949. The agreements are referred in the Act to as “instruments”. This is a tax on the instruments and generally the tax is based on a fixed fee, or it is calculated based on the value of the transaction or prop erty. Recently there has been significant increase in the awareness of need to comply with stamp duty due to the substantial increase in penalty for non-compliance coupled with the fact that the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) has increased its level of audit scrutiny in this area. Taxpayers are now facing unexpected assessments. Until recently, many taxpayers were under the assumption that unless an instrument needs to be adduced as evidence in court, there is no necessity to have it stamped. Consequently, most intercompany documents were not stamped. This has become an easy target for IRB when it conducts audits to collect the outstanding taxes and the penalties. The government realises the predicament faced by taxpayers and decided to alleviate their “pain” through the introduction of the Self Voluntary Disclosure Programme (SVDP) for a period from Jan 1, 2026 to June 30, 2026. In PETALING JAYA: As Malaysia’s e-commerce sector continues to expand at double-digit rates, mounting pressure on urban roads and rising carbon emissions have exposed fundamental weaknesses in the country’s last-mile delivery model. Diolko, a logistics startup leveraging existing rail infrastructure for parcel movement, believes the answer lies not in adding more delivery vehicles to already congested roads but in rethinking how goods move through cities. Its co-founder and chief operating officer, Onno Pfeiffer, said the traditional response by the logistics industry has been to deploy more vans and motorcycles, a solution he described as unsustainable given the limits of urban infrastructure. “E-commerce keeps growing, mobile penetration is extremely high and people are shopping online more than ever,” Pfeiffer told SunBiz in an interview. “But the city infrastructure is not designed for this kind of exponential growth. Adding more vehicles simply makes congestion worse,” he said. Instead, Diolko turned to public transport – specifically rail – as the backbone of its delivery network. Kuala Lumpur’s extensive light rail and mass rapid transit system, Pfeiffer said, presents an underutilised asset for moving goods efficiently across the city. “Every few minutes, there is a train moving in both directions across the city. We are not adding new trains. We are using infrastructure that already exists and optimising it in a smarter way.” According to Pfeiffer, rail transport is significantly more efficient on a per-kilogram basis compared to road-based logistics. By consolidating parcels from multiple customers and transporting them together via train, Diolko is able to reduce both delivery time and emissions. “The more congested a city becomes, the more time delivery vehicles spend stuck in traffic. Trains don’t face that issue. Just by using rail, the carbon efficiency is already much higher.” Rail transport also allows Diolko to redistribute parcels closer to end consumers, enabling electric vans and motorcycles to complete deliveries within smaller zones. Ű BY IKHWAN ZULKAFLEE newsdesk@thesundaily.com

Correcting past stamp duty non-declaration via SVDP

Now that taxpayers are becoming more aware of the benefits of the SVDP, the government should consider encouraging more taxpayers to participate in the programme by extending the SVDP period from July 1 to Sept 30. The government should understand that collating the instruments and determining the duty will take time and therefore the additional three months is not an unreasonable request. IRB can also save significant resources from unnecessarily deploying staff to audit taxpayers. This is a win-win situation for both taxpayers and IRB. This article is contributed by Thannees Tax Consulting Services Sdn Bhd managing director SM Thanneermalai (www.thannees.com).

can raise an assessment for any number of years. In the operational guidelines issued by the IRB for the SVDP issued on Jan 1, 2026, the requirement for entering the SVDP is three years going back to Jan 1, 2023. There is a gap period of two years if we were to follow the five year time bar rule which has not been brought up in the guidelines. The assumption we can make is IRB is unlikely to open matters beyond Jan 1, 2023 under normal circumstances. All the instruments entered under SVDP for the three years will not be audited. The procedure for entering the programme is that each instrument included in the programme should be brought to IRB. You cannot adopt the past practices of the Income Tax SVDP in 2018 and 2021 of merely informing IRB via a letter or correspondence.

summary, the SVDP involves granting exemption from penalty if taxpayers volunteered to declare the instruments

that have not been stamped during the period from Jan 1, 2023 to Dec 31, 2025.

Normally, penalty would have been imposed on late stamping in the region of RM50 or 10% of the unpaid duty, whichever is higher, if the instrument was stamped within three months after the due date or the rate increases to RM100 or 20% of the unpaid duty, whichever is higher for all cases. As the law stands, IRB has the power to go back up to five years from the date the duty would have been paid. In the case where there is fraud, wilful default or negligence, the five-year time bar can be overridden, and IRB

Logistics startup Diolko rides on rail network to achieve greener and more efficient delivery

Bursa invites public feedback on proposed changes to digital currency ETF rules

Pfeiffer says the infrastructure is already there, and the challenge is learning how to use it differently. – AMIRUL SYAFIQ/THESUN

PETALING JAYA: Bursa Malaysia Securities has issued a consultation paper seeking public feedback on the proposed rule amendments to facilitate the listing and trading of digital currency exchange traded funds (ETF). The review follows the Securities Commission Malaysia’s recent revision of the Guidelines on Exchange Traded Funds, issued on March 2, which now permits the offering of digital currency ETF under an enhanced regulatory framework. Digital currency ETF are designed to provide investors with a regulated and transparent exposure to digital currency through a widely accepted and established capital market product. Bursa Malaysia said it welcomes the listing of such ETF on the exchange as part of its ongoing efforts to expand and diversify the range of ETF offerings available to investors. The initiative also aligns with the Capital Market Masterplan 2026-2030, which aims to broaden access to investment opportunities beyond traditional asset classes and support the continued development of Malaysia’s capital market. The proposed amendments to the Main Market Listing Requirements and the Directives of Bursa Malaysia Securities (BMS Directives) are focused primarily on enhanced disclosures in the following areas – disclosures of specific material inform ation relating to a digital currency ETF in immediate announcement and annual report under the Main LR to enhance transparency; and disclosure of key risks associated with a digital currency ETF in a risk disclosure statement to be signed by an investor before investing in a digital currency ETF under the BMS Directives, to promote investor education and risk awareness. The exchange welcomes views and feedback from the public on the proposed amendments by April 10 through https://www.bursamalaysia.com/regulation/p ublic_consultation .

internationally recognised standards, including the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and the Global Logistics Emissions Council framework. “Our system tracks carbon emissions on an individual parcel basis. We know exactly how each package is transported and how much carbon is emitted at every stage of the journey.” He added that carbon reporting is becoming increasingly important for businesses, parti cularly multinational companies required to disclose supply chain emissions. “In Malaysia, there is no carbon tax yet, but reporting requirements are increasing and voluntary carbon markets are emerging. For brands, reducing emissions is not just about compliance – it’s also about differentiation, especially with younger consumers who care deeply about sustainability.” With plans to expand operations across the Kelana Jaya and the Sri Petaling lines and reach up to 15 stations by 2027, Pfeiffer acknowledged that scaling rail-based logistics comes with operational challenges, particularly at older stations not designed for freight handling. “Every station is different. But we assess each one and adapt our operations accordingly.” Pfeiffer believes Diolko’s model could be replicated across Southeast Asian cities facing similar congestion and sustainability pressures. “The infrastructure is already there. The challenge is learning how to use it differently.”

This, Pfeiffer said, addresses range limitations associated with electric vehicles while ensuring full end-to-end service from warehouse to doorstep. While rail networks do not fully connect all intracity and intercity routes, Pfeiffer said, Diolko’s model remains flexible. For longer distances, the company can tap into KTM rail services or deploy consolidated e-truck shipments where rail is not feasible. “What we are effectively doing is grouping volumes together. Transporting one conso lidated load is far more efficient than sending 10 separate trucks.” Pfeiffer said Diolko’s operations rely heavily on close collaboration with public transport operators, particularly Prasarana, as well as support from the Ministry of Transport. He also said Diolko worked closely with operators to design specialised trolleys and standard operating procedures to ensure safety at stations and onboard trains. “We had to convince them that this could be done safely. Everything – from processes to equipment – was designed with the operator and the commuter in mind.” During a recent presentation, Diolko claimed its model could reduce carbon emissions by between 50% and 80% compared to conventional delivery methods. Pfeiffer said these figures are measured using