Employers footing COVID-19 screening cost get double tax deduction

PUTRAJAYA: Employers who bear the cost of COVID-19 screening will get double tax deduction for the payment of employee screening costs made during the year, said Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.

"Individuals can also get tax exemption for screening costs," he said in a media briefing on the Malaysian Economic and Rakyat's Protection Assistance Package (PERMAI) here today.

Tengku Zafrul said the Social Security Organisation would bear the cost of screening foreign workers in the red zone.

On the i-Sinar programme, Tengku Zafrul said the Employees Provident Fund had agreed to facilitate it, so far only one per cent of applications had not been approved.

Regarding the moratorium, he said the approval rate was more than 95 per cent for individuals while for small and medium enterprises, the approval rate was 99 per cent.

"We need to help the most affected. If open to all, the resources will be stretched. Better to support the needy than provide unnecessary blanket assistance for those who do not need them," he said.

-- BERNAMA