Tax treatment

Company 
A
SPV
Investors
1) Sale of Asset
2) Ijarah (Lease)
2) Sukuk Issuance
2) Funds
1) Funds
2) Ijarah Payments
Tax Neutrality Provisions
Company 
A
SPV
Investors
2) Sukuk Issuance
2) Funds
1) Funds
2) Deferred consideration / Ijarah Payments
• 
Due to the additional underlying asset transactions required for Shariah financing, tax neutrality 
rules would mean that the underlying transactions would be ignored for tax purposes.
• 
This will mean that the Sukuk will be treated to be similar as any conventional bonds so that it is 
not treated worse off.
Common Practical Tax Issues - Example
1) Sale of Asset
[
Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers
]
2) Asset repurchase / 
Ijarah (Lease)

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19
Tax Treatment on
Islamic Finance 
in Malaysia
 
Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA)’s 
Initiatives to Support the Growth of Islamic 
Finance Industry
MIA through various initiatives and collaborations aims to showcase Malaysia’s expertise in Islamic 
Finance and promote its accountants’ marketability locally and internationally. It plans to develop 
the knowledge base on application of IFRS on Islamic Finance as well as to encourage research on 
this area through collaborations and sharing of findings with stakeholders. Specifically, MIA engaged 
with Bank Negara Malaysia to provide input from the industry’s perspective on the “Shariah Audit 
Framework for Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs)”. The views and feedback were shared with Bank 
Negara Malaysia through several discussions held throughout 2011. It is envisaged that a more 
practical and useful guidance will be issued which will enhance the efficiency of the Islamic Finance 
market.
MIA is collaborating with INCEIF (The Global University of Islamic Finance) to conduct a gap analysis 
on the Bachelor of Accounting Programmes of local universities accredited by MIA to recommend 
relevant Islamic Finance (IF) modules that could be incorporated into the current syllabus. In addition, 
MIA would identify suitable courses that could be offered for the benefit of members. This initiative is 
aimed to enhance the value of future and existing accountants by embedding relevant knowledge 
into their education system and continuous professional development. This will provide a ready 
supply of IF-competent accountants to support the development of this rapidly growing economy 
and promote Malaysian accountants’ marketability internationally.

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