KUALA LUMPUR: The Youth and Sports Ministry will announce the conditions and fee incentives for participation in sports training that have been given tax exemptions under 2024 Budget before March.
Its Minister, Hannah Yeoh said the ministry had met the Finance Ministry and Inland Revenue Department (IRB) to study in detail the terms that will allow the public to enjoy the tax exemption after paying their training fees.
"We will announce soon to ensure the public is ready to enjoy this tax incentive so that they can invest in undergoing sports training," she told reporters after attending the Datasonic H20 Run 2024 at Padang Merbok here today.
She said the sports training fees that will be given tax exemptions will cover 103 types of sports gazetted under the Sports Development Act 1997 (Act 576).
She also said that the National Sports Insitute (NSI) is enhancing its coaching course to ensure the public will be able to access the services of qualified coaches.
"The public must use the services of coaches who are qualified and have proper sports training certificates (if they are paying the sports training fees). We do not want any party to print their own receipts (to enjoy the tax exemption)," she said.
Last October, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, when tabling Budget 2024 in Parliament, said the government proposed a special tax relief for the purchase of sports equipment and activities of up to RM1,000 and which would be extended to cover sports training fees.
In another development, Hannah said the Malaysian Stadium Board (PSM) is striving to ensure that the incident of the damaged pitch following the hosting of the Coldplay concert at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil last November does not recur when popular United Kingdom singer Ed Sheeran holds at his concert on Feb 24.
She said that when she attended the big screen viewing of the Harimau Malaya's matches in the 2023 Asian Cup at the stadium recently, the pitch condition seemed to be improving.
On Dec 4, the playing surface at the National Stadium became a hot topic after Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) owner Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim uploaded a picture showing the damaged condition of the pitch on his social media page ahead of the Malaysia Cup final between his team and Terengganu FC.
That was the second time in about two weeks that Tunku Ismail uploaded pictures of the pitch condition at the National Stadium. The first was two days after the Coldplay concert held at the stadium on Nov 22.
For the record, Tunku Ismail sponsored the Zeon Zoysia grass for use at the National Stadium. -- BERNAMA