6,400 goods to be charged under SST, much less than GST, says Customs DG

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 6,400 goods will be charged under the Sales and Service Tax (SST) compared with 11,197 under the Goods and Services Tax (GST), said Customs director-general Datuk Seri Subromaniam Tholasy (pic).

"This is based on the tariff numbers we had proposed," he told reporters after a seminar on Tuesday.

"If we look at the Consumer Price Index (CPI) basket, under GST, 60% of the goods are taxed compared with 38% under the SST," he added.

Subromaniam said Customs will start to migrate data from the MyGST system to MySST starting Wednesday (Aug 1) as part of the preparation for the Government to re-introduce SST on Sept 1.

He said Customs expects there will be 70,000 to 80,000 companies registered under the SST compared with 470,000 under the GST.

"These companies, mainly manufacturers and service providers, will be informed through e-mail, starting this week," he said.

Subromaniam said the list of exemptions for SST will be finalised next week.

He said Customs has started engaging sessions and briefing sessions with traders and business owners.

"We have engaged and trained 5,000 companies so far. Hopefully the rest will be completed in a month's time," he said, adding that the Department has sufficient manpower.

On Tuesday (July 31), the Government took the first step in its promise to repeal the Goods and Services Tax (GST) with the tabling of five Bills for its first reading in Parliament.

The Bills are not just to abolish the GST but also to reintroduce the Sales Tax Bill 2018 and the Services Tax Bill 2018.

Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Amiruddin Hamzah tabled the GST (Repeal) Bill 2018, Sales Tax Bill 2018, Service Tax Bill 2018, Customs (Amendment) Bill 2018 and the Free Zones (Amendment) Bill 2018.

The proposed Sales Tax Bill seeks to provide for the charging, levying and collection of sales tax.