Ampang Jaya Municipal Council will no longer absorb 6-8% SST, says deputy president
SALES and Service Tax (SST) is now being applied to Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) services.
Parking was the first to see the change in August, while others such as community hall rental will be taxable from October.
Depending on the service, consumers will pay an additional 6% or 8% on top of existing fees.
For motorists, this means they will have to pay 53sen per hour compared to 50sen previously for parking, which is a 6% increase.
MPAJ deputy president Hasrolnizam Shaari said the local council had not raised its rates but only collecting federal tax.
“This is a requirement under the Service Tax Act 2018 and applies to all local authorities, not just MPAJ,” he said.
Hasrolnizam said MPAJ had previously absorbed the charges.
“In fact, we have to pay RM2.3mil to the Customs Department as SST charges prior to this,” he said after chairing the full board meeting at Menara MPAJ.
He said the expanded SST, which came into effect on July 1, imposed an 8% tax on rental and leasing services.
Local authorities have been given until Oct 1 to implement the SST.
The tax covers passenger vehicles, logistics and broadcasting equipment, land or site rentals such as for telecommunications towers and hawker stalls, decorative plants, halls, stadiums, non-residential buildings, and training centres.
“Exemptions will be given to micro and small enterprises with annual sales of less than RM1mil, but they must be registered with MyPMK through the Customs Department portal,” said Hasrolnizam.
On another matter, he said MPAJ has mobilised its Special Revenue Squad to collect outstanding assessment tax in its fifth enforcement round since it was set up in 2023.
He said the squad comprised 105 council staff tasked with recovering arrears from ratepayers.
“For this year’s operation, which runs from August to October, the squad is targeting 5,250 accounts with total arrears amounting to RM16mil,” he said.
Hasrolnizam warned that business premises owners risk being denied licence renewal if they failed to settle assessment arrears.
“I have instructed both the licensing and revenue departments to ensure that assessment arrears are cleared before any licence renewal is approved,” he added.
Commercial units comprising about 7,000 account holders currently have arrears totalling nearly RM25mil, said Hasrolnizam.
