Malaysia continues its rise up World Bank Doing Business rankings

The latest edition of the annual World Bank Doing Business report has seen Malaysia improve its rankings for the second consecutive year, moving up two places from eighth to sixth.

With the report now in its 11th year, Doing Business 2014: Understanding Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises analyses the impact of regulations throughout the business lifecycle across 189 jurisdictions, ranking economies on the basis of 10 indicators including ease of starting a business, and paying taxes. Russell Bedford member firms have contributed to each report’s Paying Taxes survey since 2009, contributing data on tax regulation, recent reforms, and the real costs of tax compliance worldwide.

Malaysia recorded impressive improvements across a number of areas, including ease of starting a business (up three places to 16th), access to electricity (up seven places to 21st), and, most particularly, ease of securing construction permits, up an impressive 56 places to 43rd.

Nonetheless, a number of commentators have noted the country's slide in terms of ease of paying taxes, down from 15th place to 36th, its worst ever performance. The country's Special Task Force to Facilitate Business (Pemudah) expect this situation to reverse in next year's report, by which time greater use of online filing systems is expected to result in a considerable reduction on the compliance burden for businesses.

Loh Kok Leong, partner in Russell Bedford LC & Company, Kuala Lumpur, calls for more substantial reform, however. "We are proud of our work in supporting the World Bank Doing Business project, and delighted to witness Malaysia's continued rise. But this year's data on ease of paying taxes only serves to highlight a number of concerns among the business community. With the substantial upward revision in the Real Property Gains Tax rates in 2014 and the implementation of Goods and Services Tax in 2015, it is hard to see how the country's rankings can improve. We will continue to press for further regulatory reform in Malaysia, particularly regarding the compliance burden on entrepreneurs."

ENDS

Notes for Editors

For more information about the World Bank's Doing Business reports, please visit www.doingbusiness.org

About Russell Bedford International

Established in 1983, Russell Bedford International is a global network of independent firms of accountants, auditors, tax advisers and business consultants. Ranked amongst the world’s leading accounting and audit networks, Russell Bedford is represented by some 460 partners, 5000 staff and 280 offices in more than 90 countries in Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific. Russell Bedford International is a member of the IFAC Forum of Firms and a member of EGIAN, the European Group of International Accounting Networks and Associations.

Contacts:

Kempton Bedell-Harper
Russell Bedford International
T: +44 20 7410 0339
E: info@russellbedford.com
W: www.russellbedford.com

Loh Kok Leong
Russell Bedford LC & Company
T: +60 3 2031 8223
E: lohkl@russellbedford.com.my
W: www.russellbedford.com.my

This release was published on openPR.