Government Not Rushing to Finalize T15 Income Bracket – Amir Hamzah

The government is not in a hurry to finalize the income threshold for the classification of the top 15 percent of high-income earners, known as T15.

Second Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan, stated that the Ministry of Economy needs sufficient time to determine an accurate income bracket before making an official announcement.

“We hope the Ministry of Economy will finalize this matter soon, but the most important thing is that the process must be based on accurate understanding and data.

“We do not want to make a decision hastily, as we do not want to be wrong. So, let’s give the Ministry of Economy time to complete their work,” he said.

He made these remarks during a press conference after launching the “One Leader, One Village” (Santuni MADANI) program under CIMB at the Pinggiran Bukit Jalil 2 Community Center today.

When presenting Budget 2025 in the Dewan Rakyat, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim stated that foreign nationals and the top 15 percent of consumers, whom he referred to as the “ultra-rich,” benefit from 40 percent of the RON95 petrol subsidy, amounting to approximately RM8 billion.

The Prime Minister added that this amount would be better spent on public healthcare, education, and transportation.

In October last year, Anwar mentioned that the government had not yet finalized the income threshold for the T15 classification, which is expected to be excluded from certain subsidies this year.

He also dismissed claims that T15 refers to households earning RM12,000 and above, as currently defined.

Meanwhile, Minister of Economy Rafizi Ramli later clarified that individuals classified under T15 would be determined based on their net disposable household income and place of residence.

Additionally, Amir stated that the government is committed to ensuring that assistance and subsidies are directed toward those who truly qualify.

“For this reason, we have developed the Central Database System (PADU) to enable the Ministry of Economy to set an appropriate income threshold for relevant purposes,” he explained.