Govt offers salary subsidies for SME, up to RM1,200 per staff

[ UPDATE 8/4/2020 15:00 ] SMEs can apply for the salary subsidy starting from 9th April 2020. More details here.

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Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has announced additional initiatives under the economic stimulus package (Pakej PRIHATIN PKS Tambahan) to help Malaysians cope financially during the COVID-19 outbreak. An additional RM10 billion has been announced to support Small-Medium enterprises and this is to ensure two-thirds of the Malaysian workforce can retain their jobs.

The previous salary subsidy program that was announced on 27th March will be increased from RM5.9 billion to RM13.8 billion. With the additional allocation, companies with local employees earning RM4,000 and below will enjoy the following salary subsidy benefits:

Salary Subsidy

For companies with more than 200 employees, the government will provide RM600 for each employee that’s retained. The maximum number of eligible employees for the subsidy will be increased from 100 to 200.

For companies with 76 to 200 employees, they will receive a salary subsidy of RM800 per person.

Meanwhile, smaller companies with 75 employees and below will receive RM1,200 per person.

This subsidy is offered for 3 months and it is applicable to companies that have registered with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) or local authorities before 1st January 2020, and they must also be registered with PERKESO. According to the Prime Minister, approximately 4.8 million employees will benefit from this initiative.

For employers that want to take up this subsidy offer, they would need to assure that they will retain their employees for at least 6 months. This includes the 3 month period when they receive the subsidy and for an additional 3 months after that.

PRIHATIN Special Grant

The government is also introducing a PRIHATIN special grant worth RM2.1 billion for eligible small and medium enterprises. RM3,000 will be allocated for every micro-SME and this will benefit 700,000 companies.

Micro-SMEs must be registered with the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) before 1st January 2020 to enjoy this benefit. The Government will obtain the list of eligible micro-SME from local authorities and the Companies Commission of Malaysia. (SSM).

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