List of taxable goods under SST not finalised

KOTA KINABALU: The lists of goods imposed with the Sales and Services Tax are still not finalised.

According to Communication and Multimedia Ministry chief secretary Dato Dr Mohd Ali Mohamad Nor yesterday, the government will conduct another study on the lists of goods charged with the SST after getting inputs from the people.

He added that the people’s input will be taken into consideration and will impact on the government’s decision whether SST will be imposed on them or not.

He said the amendment to the lists was expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Dr Mohd Ali who was represented by the ministry’s strategic communication division secretary Datuk Almain Ajirul also said so far, 5,443 items had been exempted from SST and they included basic goods such as rice, oil and sugar.

SST was implemented on September 1, 2018 and is managed under the 2018 Sales Tax Act and 2018 Services Tax Act.

The Sales tax is levied on all imported goods or manufactured in Malaysia. It is set between five percent and 10 percent. The services tax are indirect taxes imposed on certain taxable services. It is fixed at six percent.

The implementation of the SST is expected to give back the RM23 billion tax collected from the people and reduce their burden, he said.

Only 70,000 to 80,000 business owners are eligible to register under SST as compared to 472,000 under the Goods and Services Tax (GST).