- Malaysia’s Finance Ministry said SST will remain the preferred tax system over GST because it allows targeted taxation and exemptions for basic goods and services commonly used by consumers.
- The ministry said it is reviewing ways to improve SST, including technical support from international organisations and consultations with stakeholders, to reduce impact on consumers, industry and businesses.
- It described GST as a broad-based consumption tax that can be regressive for lower-income households, even with zero-rating for essentials, because consumers still bear the tax.
- It said businesses are cushioned under GST by input tax credits, whereas SST is designed to be more targeted and less burdensome to the public.
- The ministry noted SST’s existing structure includes sales tax rates of 0%, 5% and 10% and service tax rates of 6% and 8%, and said SST has been in place in Malaysia since the 1970s.
Source: thestar.com.my
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
