On 7 April, AMCHAM held its second Members’ Briefing for the year. Please mark your calendars as moving forward all AMCHAM Members’ Briefing will take place on the first Wednesday of every month. We are looking at organizing more in-house meetings and events but at a smaller scale with strict SOPs, so look out for more coming soon.
In today’s briefing, we were delighted to have Mr. Michael Newbill, Deputy Chief of Mission Representative from the U.S. Embassy of Kuala Lumpur, and invited guest speaker Mr. Azrul Mohd Khalib, Chief Executive Officer of Galen Centre.
Siobhan Das, CEO of AMCHAM, started us off with an update on what’s been happening at the Chamber. This was followed by a few remarks from Mr. Michael Newbill. Following that, Mr. Azrul Mohd Khalib spoke about matters related to public healthcare. He discussed the situation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic as of late in detail. He provided insight into the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines and the nature of the vaccination process as well as the challenges up ahead for successful vaccination of the population in Malaysia.
Members who participated were able to ask more questions on the vaccination process, travel, vaccine passports, and the likely scenario for 2022. AMCHAM would like to thank Mr. Khalib for an in-depth explanation of the pandemic situation from Malaysia’s side.
In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses may now be prioritizing cost-saving measures. However, non-compliance with the service tax legislation could result in punitive measures such as hefty late payment penalties of up to 40%, fines and/or imprisonment. Thus, it is crucial that proactive steps be taken by businesses to identify possible service tax non-compliance and implement corrective measures to ensure rectification prior to an audit.
In this regard, we would like to invite you to join us at our webinar on Thursday, 15 April 2021, 10:30 a.m. where we will share insights on common service tax errors, the impact of non-compliance and how to address areas of concerns, to ensure that businesses continue to remain compliant under the current service tax legislation and in turn, have greater peace of mind.
Highlights of this webinar:
- Overview of the service tax legislation
- Common service tax errors
- Implications of non-compliance with service tax
- Penalty provisions under the service tax legislation, and
- Measures to take to ensure peace of mind
Who should attend?
- Chief financial officers
- Tax directors, managers and executives
- Financial controllers
- Finance managers
Do not miss this 60-minute webinar that aims to provide you with insights and practical action steps to help you navigate through these unprecedented times, with the view of having greater peace of mind.
– RSVP by 13 April 2021, 12:00 noon to [email protected]
- Confirmation and link will be sent to all participants upon RSVP.
- Participants may submit questions in advance to [email protected]
- This event is by invitation only and the invitation is not transferable.
On 6 April, AMCHAM was invited by the Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) to witness the official launch of the Malaysia Semiconductor Industry Association, officiated by YB Senator Datuk Lim Ban Hong, Deputy Minister of Ministry of International Trade & Industry (MITI Malaysia).
Malaysia Semiconductor Industry Association (MSIA) is an industry association which cover individuals and companies incorporated in Malaysia who are involved directly or related to Semiconductor Industry (Electronics and Systems), Semiconductor Industry supply chain, institutions providing significant related services to semiconductor industry such as engineering, finance, legal and those societies, associations, chambers and government – linked agencies.
Intel Malaysia presents their latest CSR newsletter depicting their latest CSR developments in 2021. Amidst the continuous battle against the ongoing pandemic, Intel was able to bag 3 awards, support multiple needy communities and more.
EY has released its latest tax alert issue (No. 7/2021). This issue covers:
Malaysian developments
- Amendment to flexible work arrangement benefits
- Amendment to deduction from remuneration rules
- Extension of application for tax incentive under the Returning Expert Programme
Overseas developments
- Dutch Government releases legislative proposal introducing withholding tax on dividend payments to low-tax jurisdictions, hybrid entities or in certain abusive situations as of 2024
- Greece’s tax authority issues guidance on COVID-19 and transfer pricing
Kuala Lumpur, 1 April – HP Inc. Malaysia yesterday donated 112 units of HP PCs along with monitors and computer accessories at Dataran Kota Iskandar to vaccination program in Johor.
The devices will be used by the State of Johor to facilitate the roll out of the state vaccination program across 56 vaccination centers in April. The Chief Minister of Johor, Yang Amat Berhormat Datuk Hasni Mohammad was present to accept the donation on behalf of Johor at the handover ceremony.
“We are thankful for HP Inc. Malaysia’s continuous support throughout the Covid-19 pandemic from much needed PPE in 2020 to now, with personal computers for our vaccination centres. To ensure full usage of these devices, we will repurpose the computers for community internet centres and educational purposes post Covid-19 vaccination. We look forward to future collaborations with HP Inc. Malaysia.” adds YAB Datuk Hasni Mohammad.
“Johor is an important partner to us and it is important that HP contributes to the safety of our partners, customers and the communities we operate in. We hope the PC donations will benefit Johoreans and Malaysians as we continue to learn and work from home,” said Bret Funke, Managing Director of HP Manufacturing Malaysia.
The donation is part of HP Inc. Malaysia’s ongoing effort to support Malaysia during the pandemic. In 2020, HP Inc. Malaysia provided support to government bodies, businesses, and communities through donations to Mercy Malaysia to help pilot targeted mass Covid-19 testing programs as well as personal protective supplies (PPE) to the state of Johor and Penang. Throughout the year, HP Inc. Malaysia also launched several remote working and learning initiatives aimed to keep Malaysians learning and working from home safely including partnering with Teach for Malaysia to donate laptops to support students in need.
