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KUALA LUMPUR – Middle-income (M40) earners who have lost their jobs or experienced changes in their financial circumstances can appeal for government assistance and have their eligibility reassessed, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.
Deputy Finance Minister Liew Chin Tong said the appeal mechanism allowed individuals to seek a review of their eligibility based on their current financial circumstances rather than previous income records.
"Appeals are open every day, including for those who have become unemployed. Anyone whose financial circumstances have changed can submit an appeal,” he said during Question Time.
Liew was responding to a supplementary question from Datuk Adnan Abu Hassan (BN-Kuala Pilah) on how M40 households facing job losses or reduced income could have their eligibility for targeted assistance reassessed.
He said the government also aimed to expand the middle-income group until it outnumbered the bottom 40 per cent (B40) income group, as part of efforts to improve Malaysians' socioeconomic standing.
"One of our country's challenges is that the middle-income group is smaller than the lower-income group. Our aspiration is to build a middle class that is larger than the B40 group,” he said.
Liew acknowledged the financial pressures faced by M40 households, saying Budget 2027 introduced several measures to ease their cost-of-living burden.
These included increasing individual income tax relief from RM9,000 to RM12,000, marking the first revision since 2010.
Tax relief for medical expenses was also expanded to cover postnatal care services, while education-related relief included all fields of study and children's tuition fees. –BERNAMA
