{
  "id": 16544456,
  "title": "Giving only Langkawi tax autonomy a bad precedent, says economist",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/26/giving-only-langkawi-tax-autonomy-a-bad-precedent-says-economist-16544456",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-26T00:30:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2026/10/26/giving-only-langkawi-tax-autonomy-a-bad-precedent-says-economist"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Economist Carmelo Ferlito has criticized an MP's proposal to grant the Malaysian island of Langkawi tax autonomy. Ferlito argues that giving Langkawi special tax authority would set a dangerous precedent, leading to similar demands from other areas and ultimately creating a patchwork of exceptions. Instead, Ferlito believes Malaysia should implement a general fiscal reform that spreads revenue and expenditure management to state and local levels, allowing only major national functions to remain under federal control.",
  "summary": "Carmelo Ferlito says other states will make similar demands, and Malaysia could end up becoming 'a patchwork of exceptions'.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}