Disabled folk in Selangor want state to give 100% exemption on assessment taxes

7 September 2013

Community

Disabled folk in Selangor want state to give 100% exemption on assessment taxes

STORIES BY EDWARD R. HENRY
>EDWARD@THESTAR.COM.MY

 DISABLED Selangorians want the state to give a 100% exemption in Budget 2014 for council assessment taxes.

Independent Living and Training Centre president Francis Siva hopes all 12 local councils will approve their request.

“We hope the councillors will convince the state government to allow this as this will make a real difference in the lives of the disabled,’’ he said.

Physically challenged people who own and live in their residences were given a 50% discount on their assessment tax for 2013.

Siva noted that most disabled live on a fixed income and have higher medical bills.

Many also have to work in low-paying jobs like telephone operators.

“Our association will be at the Petaling Jaya City Council’s Disabled Committee meeting next week to urge the council to implement the 100% waiver for assessment”.

“The Malaysian Association for the Blind, Malaysian Parkinson’s Disease Association, Adult Blind Association Selangor, Society for Interpreters of the Deaf, Malaysian Dyslexia Association, and Multiple Sclerosis Society will also be there to support this,” he said.

Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association president Anthony Thanasayan said the 50% discount was a good gesture but it does not go far enough.

“We should be exempted from having to pay just like for passport fees and road tax,” he added.

Resident Abdul Latiff Hashim, who has a muscular condition that renders his left hand weak since birth, said his application for the 50% discount was approved by MBPJ.

“For the 2013 assessment, I paid RM132 instead of RM264. It was a great help as I and another brother Mohd Rashid Ibrahim, 55, who also has a medical problem, depend on our elder brother to support us financially,” said Latiff, 50, who lives in a two-room terrace house in Sungei Way,

Another resident, Khew Sin Kuen who lives in SS3, said with the 50% discount, he only had to pay RM300.

“A disabled person has to make an application on an annual basis for the exemption now. This should not be the case, it should be throughout their life,” he said.

Kenneth Seow Soon Kheng, 37, who lives at SS20, said the state government should consider a 70% waiver. PJ eeputy mayor Puasa Md Taib said the council will listen to the views of the various associations when drawing up next year’s budget.