KUALA LUMPUR: A 6% Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate and a new income tax structure, abolition of the 34 sen sugar subsidy and increased BR1M payments were the highlights of the 2014 Budget presented by Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in Parliament on Friday.
He said a one-off cash assistance of RM300 to households who are BR1M recipients would be given when GST is implemented on April 1 2015.
He said to lessen the burden of the people, individual income tax rates would be reduced by 1 to 3 percentage points for all tax payers to increase disposable income.
Sale, purchase and rental of residential properties as well as selected financial services were exempted from GST. Similarly, GST would be excluded in transportation services such as bus, train, LRT, taxi, ferry, boat, highway toll and education & health services.
Najib said the 6% GST rate would be among the lowest in Asean countries, with Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philipines and Laos capping theirs at 10% and Singapore 7%.