Wait for SST list before raising prices, traders told

GEORGE TOWN: The Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry wants companies and traders to wait for the Customs Department to finalise the list of items under the sales and service tax (SST) before announcing plans to hike prices.

Some companies and traders have been distributing circulars on their plan to increase prices after SST is implemented on Saturday.

Minister Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said they should wait for the ministry and the Customs authorities to finalise the list of items and services eligible for SST by this week.

Saifuddin said the ministry was monitoring these traders to see if they break the law with the fair pricing and trade mechanism offered.

“We are watching them and we will act if they break the law, especially if they indulge in profiteering,” he said.

SST is expected to be enforced from next month after a three-month tax reprieve when the federal government zero-rated the goods and services tax (GST).

GST, with its multiple-levels consumption tax system, was blamed for the steep rise in cost of living since 2015.

Saifuddin was speaking after launching the “I Love Malaysia” product campaign at the Sunshine Square supermarket in Bayan Baru.

He said buying local products would also help bring down prices of goods.