Penang MCA has hit out at the state government's decision to gazette new land tax rates across multiple land categories, effective from Jan 1, describing the amounts as "insensitive and reckless".

State MCA chairperson Tan Teik Cheng warned that the increase – ranging between 29 percent and 200 percent – would worsen the financial strain on more than 370,000 landowners from residential, agricultural, and religious institutions.