Learn Hardcore Malay: Cukai tambahan akan dikenakan kepada pembeli asing. - An additional tax will be charged to foreign buyers.

Akan marks futurity—the action is planned/expected, not yet happening. It’s optional. Without akan, Malay still allows a future reading if context or a time word makes it clear.

Cukai tambahan akan dikenakan kepada pembeli asing. (explicit future)
Mulai tahun depan, cukai tambahan dikenakan kepada pembeli asing. (future understood from the time phrase; no akan)

Why the passive dikenakan? Could I use an active form?

Dikenakan is the passive of mengenakan and is typical in regulations to focus on the policy rather than the actor. An active alternative is:

(Pihak berkuasa/kerajaan) akan mengenakan cukai tambahan kepada pembeli asing. Both are correct; the passive sounds more formal/official and agent-neutral.

What is the base of dikenakan? How are kena, kenakan, mengenakan, and dikenakan different?

The root is kena.

kena = to be affected/subject to (often informal): Pembeli asing kena cukai tambahan.
kenakan = transitive stem “to apply/impose (something on someone).”
mengenakan = active voice: Kerajaan mengenakan cukai tambahan.
dikenakan = passive voice: Cukai tambahan dikenakan… / Pembeli asing dikenakan cukai tambahan. Note: kenakan can also mean “put on/wear” with clothes (e.g., kenakan baju)—unrelated to the tax meaning.

Why use kepada? Could I say ke atas, terhadap, or untuk?

kepada = to/onto a person or group as recipient/target. Neutral and correct: …dikenakan kepada pembeli asing.
ke atas = upon/onto; very common in formal/legal style for penalties/taxes: …dikenakan ke atas pembeli asing.
terhadap = toward/against; also formal and acceptable: …dikenakan terhadap pembeli asing.
untuk = for; not used after dikenakan to mark who receives the penalty. Use untuk only to label a tax in a noun phrase: Cukai tambahan untuk pembeli asing (not a full clause).

Is the noun order cukai tambahan correct? Why not tambahan cukai?

Yes. Modifiers usually follow the noun in Malay:

cukai tambahan = additional tax. Putting tambahan before the noun turns it into a standalone noun “addition,” so tambahan cukai reads more like “an addition of tax,” which is odd here. Use cukai tambahan.

Does pembeli asing mean one or many? How do I show plural clearly?

Malay doesn’t obligatorily mark plural, so pembeli asing can be singular or plural. To make plural explicit:

para pembeli asing (a group of buyers; formal)
semua pembeli asing (all foreign buyers)
pembeli-pembeli asing (reduplication; less common for humans nowadays) Context usually clarifies number.

How do I say “the additional tax” versus “an additional tax”?

Malay lacks articles. Use determiners when needed:

Indefinite/generic: cukai tambahan
Definite: cukai tambahan itu / cukai tambahan tersebut (formal “that said additional tax”)
If you mean a specific type: sejenis cukai tambahan (“a type of additional tax”)

Does asing mean “foreign” or “strange”? Could pembeli asing be misunderstood?

Asing can mean both, but with people it typically means “foreign/foreign national.” For “strange/odd,” Malay more often uses pelik or aneh. Pembeli asing is understood as “foreign buyers.”

Can I make the buyers the topic instead?

Yes:

Pembeli asing akan dikenakan cukai tambahan. This shifts the focus to the buyers but keeps the same meaning as the original.

How do I add the agent, like “by the government/authorities”?

Use oleh + agent after the verb:

Cukai tambahan akan dikenakan kepada pembeli asing oleh kerajaan/pihak berkuasa. Active voice is also fine:
Kerajaan/pihak berkuasa akan mengenakan cukai tambahan kepada pembeli asing. In passive, oleh is often omitted if the agent is obvious.

How do I negate it: “will not be imposed”?

Use tidak before the verb phrase:

Cukai tambahan tidak akan dikenakan kepada pembeli asing. Use bukan to negate nouns, not verbs—so don’t say bukan akan dikenakan.

Is di- a prefix here? How is it different from the preposition di?

Yes, di- is the passive verb prefix and must be attached: dikenakan. The preposition di (“at/in/on”) is separate: di rumah. So:

Correct: dikenakan
Incorrect: di kenakan

Any pronunciation tips for this sentence?

c in cukai sounds like English “ch” (choo-kai).
ai in cukai is like “eye.”
The e in dikenakan and kepada is a schwa (uh): di-kə-na-kan, kə-pa-da.
Final -ng in asing is like the “ng” in “sing.”
Stress is light and even; don’t over-stress any one syllable.

What’s a more casual way to say it?

Colloquial Malay often uses kena:

Pembeli asing akan kena cukai tambahan. You can drop akan if time is clear:
Pembeli asing kena cukai tambahan mulai tahun depan.

Are there useful synonyms for cukai tambahan?

Depends on nuance:

surcaj (surcharge)
levi (levy; e.g., levi pekerja asing)
duti (duty; customs/excise context) Use the term that matches the legal policy; cukai tambahan is the safe generic.

Where can I place time expressions like “starting next year” or “from today”?

They’re flexible:

Sentence-initial: Mulai tahun depan, cukai tambahan akan dikenakan kepada pembeli asing.
Sentence-final: Cukai tambahan akan dikenakan kepada pembeli asing mulai tahun depan. Avoid inserting the time word between akan and dikenakan.