PETALING JAYA: Patients undergoing traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) treatments should not be burdened with additional taxes, says Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
The MCA president has appealed to the government to sympathise with patients who are seeking services such as physiotherapy and acupuncture.
“They are in hardship, and we must act fairly by exempting them from the sales and service tax (SST),” he said.
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Dr Wee, who is also Ayer Hitam MP, said the T&CM sector, which includes traditional Chinese and Malay medicines, as well as ayurvedic medicine, is a branch of the healthcare system.
As such, he urged the government to exempt the sector from the sales and service tax (SST), which will be raised to 8% in March.
“The SST, imposed on entertainment services, should not be applied to the T&CM industry.
“I want to ask, for those seeking T&CM services, such as stroke patients who need to undergo physiotherapy treatments or acupuncture, are these treatments considered entertainment?” questioned Dr Wee in a TikTok video posted on Thursday (Jan 4).
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Beginning in March, T&CM facilities, such as Chinese traditional medicine shops and services with an annual turnover of RM500,000 annually, will have to charge 8% in SST.
In a circular recently, industry players were also told to pay up the SST dating back to 2018, following the abolishment of the Goods and Service Tax.
“I think most T&CM practitioners are unaware of this (that the sector is subject to charge the SST).
“With the circular, it seems that the T&CM services fall in the entertainment category, such as karaoke,” he added.
