Out goes GST, in comes all the luxury spending

PETALING JAYA: From renovations to jewellery and even having their own personal trainers, Malay­sians are no longer holding back on their spending with the start of the “tax holiday” today.

From today, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been zero-­rated. It will be replaced with the Sales and Services Tax (SST) from Sept 1.

A writer who wants to be known as Candy said she was looking forward to renovation works for her apartment that she had postponed for some time.

“My contractor quoted RM99,000. I have to do some plumbing and flooring work to my place but I had to put it off due to the high cost,” she said.

“Now that the zero rate GST has kicked in, I am going ahead with my plans.”

Investment manager Carlos Yue said he planned to buy a new smartphone over the “tax holiday” period.

“I can enjoy better savings,” he said.

But, he wants to wait after Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo meets with the telco providers.

“Maybe there will be better deals,” he added.

Gobind has pledged to double the Internet speed in the country at half the price.

He reportedly said that he would meet telcos soon to discuss on the matter.

Retail executive Vanessa Siew, 29, said she and her fiance would buy their wedding rings for their nuptials soon.

“We wanted to buy the wedding bands earlier. But we decided to postpone it until the GST is zero-­rated.

“It will help us save money and we can use the savings on the other expenses for our wedding,” she added.

S. Sahana, 35, was reminded of the “tax holiday” by her optician when she was about to buy her contact lenses and a new pair of glasses.

“It slipped my mind. Thankfully, my optician reminded me of the zero-rated GST, so he said he will only place my order after June 1,” said Sahana.

Some people had even put their fitness regime on hold.

Suriyati Mohamad said she could soon engage a personal trainer.

“I plan to start after Hari Raya, so I can shed some of the excess weight after indulging in all the Raya food.”