Local media reports stand out among misleading posts about crude palm oil tax
Its finance ministry told AFP that Malaysia has no plans to impose taxes on crude oil in the near future, which refuted social media posts that mistakenly believe it would do so. The posts are the title of the local newspaper in context – this is a report on NGO comments rather than government advice.
Screenshots of the Malaysian Facebook post from the Malay language newspaper Utusan, shared on X on March 23 with the title “New Malaysia receives gifts every day”.
“Special tax introduction of crude oil” wrote Utusan Malaysia Post.
X posts include links to newspaper online reports (archive links).
Screenshot of False X Post, captured on April 17, 2025
Similar posts about the alleged new tax were also shared elsewhere on Facebook.
The claim surfaced as Malaysia suffered from a shortage of bottled cooking oil, which the agency attributed to rising global crude oil prices and the government’s price cap policy, which made it difficult for manufacturers to pay for operating costs (archive link).
However, Malaysia has no plans to impose taxes on local crude oil producers to address the shortage – these positions have detached Malaysian utusan Facebook posts from context (archive link).
No new tax plan
The original post includes a link to a report released on March 23, which attributes the proposal to the Consumer Protection NGO (archive link) National Consumer Foundation of Malaysia (YPNM).
“The problem in the market that is not enough to plague people’s supply of edible oil can be solved by a special tax ($23) per ton of crude palm oil (CPO) for all local producers,” the report reads.
“Malaysia National Consumer Foundation (YPNM) President Dr. Mohd Firdaus Abdullah said Malaysia produces about 20 million tons,” said Dr. Mohd Firdaus Abdullah, president of Malaysian National Consumer Foundation (YPNM). [palm] For oil every year, if 100 ringgit tax is imposed on each metric ton, the government can earn 2 billion yuan a year. ”
It does not include any response from Malaysian authorities to the proposal.
A Treasury spokesman told AFP on April 16 that the government has no plans to propose new taxes in the future.
The ministry issued a similar announcement in December 2024, noting that it will focus on implementing the tax measures announced in the 2025 budget (archive link). The spokesman said the statement remains in effect.
Although the government imposes sugar on sugar to combat diabetes in the country (archived link), basic foods are exempt from the business tax announced in the budget.
As of April 21, 2025, there are no reliable reports that the Malaysian government plans to impose taxes on crude oil.
