No air transport tax
The economic well-being of the people is more important than talking merely about increasing taxes. I’m not saying that increasing tax revenue is not important. It’s important but in the larger context, you should see that the economic wellbeing of the people is more important.
KOTA KINABALU: Air transport service in Sabah and Sarawak will be exempted from Sales and Services Tax (SST) as it is a critical and important mode of transportation for the people in both the states, said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.
He said the tax exemption was a privilege given to the two states by taking into account their size.
“Sabah and Sarawak are so vast and large. The air transport system is very critical and important. That is why the tax (for air transportation) is exempted,” he added.
The move, he said, would be shocking as air transport was taxed under the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) system by the previous government.
He told reporters this after attending a briefing on the implementation of the SST, organised by the Royal Customs Department here yesterday.
On yesterday’s briefing, Lim said it provided an opportunity for the government, especially his ministry, to get feedback from the people on the implementation of SST.
Based on the feedback, he said, the government would make the necessary amendments to better improve the SST system to be carried out end of the year.
“The economic well-being of the people is more important than talking merely about increasing taxes. I’m not saying that increasing tax revenue is not important. It’s important but in the larger context, you should see that the economic wellbeing of the people is more important.
“What is the point of having a lot of tax collection if the people are suffering? And we know that this is what GST has done to the rakyat. The rakyat never suffered as much as they suffered under the GST,” he added.
He said the people would still feel the pinch with the implementation of SST, but the burden would be lighter than during the time of the implementation of GST.
Lim also said the government may add more items to the list of goods exempted from SST by yearend, based on feedback from the public. He said the ministry can only finalise the new list (if any) by year-end and urged the public to help by providing suggestions and recommendations.
“What’s most important is the economic well-being of the people,” he said.
Lim clarified that dried fish and prawns will not be charged SST.
He said that it was untrue that products such as preserved fish (ikan jeruk) and salted or dried fish (ikan kering/masin) would fall under the five per cent tax.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng
KOTA KINABALU: The Sales and Services Tax (SST) is a source of income for the government to develop the country.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said this to reporters after officiating at the PKR Sabah 2018 Branch Annual General Meeting (AGM) here yesterday.
“Previously, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) used to be the source of income for the previous government for the purpose of national development, but after being abolished it (GST) is no longer the source of funding for the present government for the same purpose.
“SST is a form of systematic taxation being re-introduced for a similar purpose and it is limited to several items only,” Wan Azizah explained.
Members of the public were requested to contact the ministry's ‘hotline' if they had any complaints and about price increase of goods by traders, she added.
Meanwhile, Wan Azizah thanked the people for their patience with the government in resolving national problems that could not be settled in the short term.
More than 1,000 delegates from 25 branches attended the AGM.
Among those in attendance were PKR Sabah chief cum Deputy Chief Minister Christina Liew and PKR Penampang chief cum Assistant Finance Minister Kenny Chua.