Malaysia remains a popular destination for expats around the world. However, the tax laws and the way in which it functions can be quite confusing. For an American expatriate living in Malaysia, what exactly goes into filing US expat (and Malaysian) taxes?
On 8 May, 2020, AMCHAM in collaboration with Moores Rowland Tax Consultants had a webinar on U.S. Taxes and updates on the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act for U.S. Citizens and Green Card Holders in Malaysia. Speaker for this session was Derren Joseph EA, Partner at HTJ Tax (“Advanced American Tax”) a member of Moores Rowland Asia Pacific.
This session gave an overview on both the nature of the taxes as well as its recent changes and additions such as the CARES Act for U.S citizens in Malaysia. A wide range of areas was covered from how/who to file the taxes, to U.S owners of SMEs, Malaysian investors in U.S assets, along with advice on best practices. Overall, a complicated subject in general, but was made easier by the speaker.
MIDA in collaboration with MATRADE is conducting a survey on companies’ ability in restarting manufacturing under the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO). The findings are to be reported to The Economic Planning Unit by Friday.
Please be informed that this survey is different from the impact survey conducted few weeks back.
In this regard, we would appreciate if you can spare 10 minutes to fill in this survey.
For companies that have responded earlier, this version has been adjusted and enhanced. Therefore seek your cooperation to fill in this survey again
Please note that he deadline for this survey is 8 May 2020
FedEx Transports Medical Supplies from China and Supports Work Resumption for Businesses
KUALA LUMPUR, 6 May, 2020 – FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp (NYSE: FDX) and the world’s largest express transportation company, has continued to donate shipping services and work with nonprofits to proactively support with relief efforts, helping prevent spread of the COVID-19 worldwide. These relief supplies shipped from China to the countries around the globe will be allocated by Direct Relief and Heart to Heart International to qualified health centers and hospitals with the most significant public health need, including underserved and vulnerable populations.
FedEx has provided expedited shipping as part of FedEx Cares “Delivering for Good” initiative and the relief shipments include:
- Collaborated with Direct Relief to transport three batches of shipments including approximately 3,000,000 surgical masks from China to Santa Barbara, California, U.S. starting on April 3 and were delivered to support the Maryland Emergency Management Agency on April 13 (1 million masks), Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (500,000 masks) and Delaware (300,000 masks.). The remaining 1.2 million masks will be distributed to U.S. clinics and hospitals.
- Worked with Heart to Heart International to deliver 170,000 surgical masks from Shenzhen, China to Kansas City, Kansas, U.S. on April 16 that will be distributed to Kansas City area hospitals and to first responders.
- Shipped out 50,000 face shields from China to Direct Relief in the U.S. on April 19 that will be distributed to U.S. clinics and hospitals.
- Worked with Direct Relief to move 375,000 surgical masks from China to Mexico (350,000 masks), Ecuador (15,000 marks) and Peru (10,000 marks) starting from April 24.
Since the end of January, FedEx has donated shipping services to Direct Relief, International Medical Corps, Heart to Heart International, and other nonprofits to transport over 1,500 shipments of humanitarian aid weighing more than 175 U.S. tons globally. The supplies included more than 4,449,230 masks, and more than a million pieces of personal protective equipment such as gowns and gloves.
In addition to dedicating efforts to transporting urgent needed medical supplies, FedEx has also been providing continuous support to its customers in Asia Pacific as work and production resume in China.
With a global network covering 220 countries and territories, FedEx keeps operating more than 270 international flights in and out of China every week.
“At FedEx, we have been supporting essential and critical medical shipments to and from impacted areas since the COVID-19 outbreak began while adhering to local conditions and guidelines. As restrictions lift and China looks forward to return to normalcy, we are helping businesses and supply chains, facilitating trade and lifting local economies,” said Karen Reddington, president, Asia Pacific, FedEx Express.
Catering to the needs of customers in different industries, FedEx provides “one-stop” solutions and customized services so that shipments are tracked and monitored during transportation and are delivered to the production line on time, helping customers optimize their production and inventory balance while helping ensure efficient operations.
Malaysia begins to steadily move towards a ‘recovery phase’, making adjustments to daily lives and modes of operations. The threat of Covid-19 remains regardless. On 6 May 2020, AMCHAM held a webinar titled COVID-19 – What You Need to Know presented by Dr. Helmy Mydin, Pantai Hospital’s Consultant Respiratory Physician, and Dr. Rohini Kamalanathan, Senior Director Medical APAC, Western Digital.
Members who joined got to learn in-depth about the epidemic, the current state of the virus, COVID-19 testing procedures, which group is more vulnerable, the best approaches to take, and what can be done now that the Movement Control Order has become more flexible. All foreign workers in Malaysia which include expatriates will now have to go for Covid-19 testing.
Questions from the attendees include the life span of the virus, the virus transferring from different surfaces, the effect of temperature on the virus, the strength of the virus in a cold country as opposed to a hot country, and more. This becomes crucial since many different and contradictory answers can be found on the net. Dr. Helmy cleared this up and also advised attendees on what they can implement at their offices whether it be using specific tools/devices or social distancing.
Both speakers provided a realistic idea of where we are heading and whether the ‘new normal’ will be the permanent normal or if things can go back to the way they were prior to Covid-19. This was truly an interactive session and we would like to thank Dr. Helmy and Dr. Rohini for sharing their insights and expert advice.
Issued by the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 5 May 2020
We, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade, recognise the unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. We are deeply saddened by the human losses due to the pandemic. We also express our utmost appreciation to the frontline workers around the world, in particular those from member economies, for their contribution and sacrifice in protecting public health. We are aware that the health and economic crises the global community is facing have long-term adverse repercussions on the lives and livelihoods of our people.
We are also concerned about the impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable developing economies. We reaffirm the utmost importance of collaboration at all levels and across the region to hasten our fight against COVID-19 and commit to work closely to defeat this pandemic with urgency.
We acknowledge that while halting the spread of COVID-19 currently remains the top priority of every economy, remedying the economic challenges must also be accorded a specific focus.
We recognise the importance of keeping our markets open and working together to deliver a free, fair, non-discriminatory, transparent, predictable and stable trade and investment environment, to ensure that trade and investment continue to flow in these trying times.
In this regard, we will work to facilitate the flow of essential goods and services to fight the pandemic including medicines, medical supplies and equipment, agriculture and food products and other supplies across borders, and minimise disruptions to the global supply chains. We will also ensure that trading links remain open and explore ways to facilitate essential movement of people across borders, without undermining the efforts to prevent the spread of the virus. We will work closely to identify and resolve any unnecessary barriers to trade.
We acknowledge that it may be necessary for economies to implement emergency measures designed to address COVID-19 challenges. These measures should be targeted, proportionate, transparent, temporary and should not create unnecessary barriers to trade, and are consistent with WTO rules. We recognise the need to notify any such measures in line with existing WTO rules.
We acknowledge that some members of our society are the most at risk to the pandemic. We encourage economies to act swiftly in providing timely and affordable access to essential healthcare services, and implement measures to further enhance the resilience, scalability and sustainability of our healthcare systems.
We are also aware of the vulnerability of our communities to the current economic slowdown. We encourage economies to take all necessary steps to ensure the most exposed economic sectors and workers are given support, and ensure that inclusive policy instruments are in place to fast-track their recovery. Returning workers to employment should be a high priority for all economies.
We encourage economies to pursue facilitative measures that will expedite our economic rebound. To this end, we have directed our Senior Officials to develop a coordinated approach to collecting and sharing information on policies and measures, including stimulus packages for the immediate responses to the economic crisis and long-term recovery packages, which could help respond to the economic challenges brought on by the pandemic. Where possible, these efforts should take into account recommendations from the APEC Business Advisory Council. This sharing of information seeks to ensure that the strength and learning of one economy may translate into best practices for the region as a whole.
We recognise the importance of coordinating with our partners and counterparts in the international community as well as with the private sector and academia, whose knowledge, nimbleness, experience and resourcefulness are vital to addressing this pandemic in a dynamic, innovative and timely manner.
We acknowledge the importance of strengthening regional connectivity by intensifying our efforts to make global supply chains more resilient and less vulnerable to shocks, to advance sustainable economic growth.
As we fight the pandemic, both individually and collectively, and seek to mitigate its impact on international trade and investment, we are aware that the economic disruption that accompanies it is transformational. It will likely transform much of what we know today about our livelihood and about our way of doing business. Harnessing the opportunities of the digital economy and technologies, through utilisation of smart working solutions that enable seamless international business and cross border trade, is essential to alleviate the wide-range impact of the pandemic and further advance economic growth, as we embrace the future. Therefore, we will strengthen APEC’s digital agenda, including electronic commerce and related services, with fresh perspectives and innovative means to navigate these new realities together.
We will work together towards a healthy, resilient and inclusive Asia-Pacific community. We remain unwavering in our commitment and resolute in our determination to effectively work towards mitigating the health and economic impact caused by COVID-19, fast-track the revitalisation of the region’s economy and foster its secure growth moving forward.
This statement can also be viewed on the APEC website:
https://www.apec.org/Meeting-
MIDA will continue its operations physically at its headquarters on 6 May 2020 following the ease of the Movement Control Order restrictions as announced by YAB Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Prime Minister of Malaysia on 1 May 2020. While MIDA officials continue to work from home, up to 50% of its workforce will return to its headquarters on 6 May to better assist businesses in their operations.
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