Govt urged to explain why traditional and complementary medicine is not tax-exempt

PETALING JAYA: More clarity is needed over the implementation of the 8% Sales and Service Tax (SST) on Traditional and Complementary Medicine (TCM), says the Malaysian Chinese Medical Association.

Its president Dr Heng Aik Teng said providers needed further explanation from the government on the matter.

Many of them thought that they were categorised under the medical field as TCM services are recognised by the Health Ministry.

“If we are placed under the medical field, then we have to request the government to give us the SST exemption.

“We have no objection to charging the SST but if the modern medicine field can be exempted, then why do our clients have to pay taxes for TCM treatments? We definitely need more clarification on this,” he said.

Association of Malay Naturopathy Medicine Practitioners Malaysia chairman Norhissam Mustafa expressed hope that the SST exemptions, which are provided for modern medicine, could be extended to TCM practitioners.

He said they had to undergo procedures similar to modern medicine practitioners, including registering with the TCM Council, renewing their Annual Practice Certificate, having qualifications that are recognised, and complying with the Traditional and Complementary Medicine Act.

While fewer than 10% of TCM practitioners are expected to be affected by the SST, he said the issue went beyond the tax amount. (TCM facilities with an annual turnover of RM500,000 annually will have to charge 8% in SST from March.)

“But the issue is not just the tax percentage. The most significant part is the cost of managing the tax collection.

“This can increase the price of the TCM services by 15% to 20%. There is no doubt that clients will start switching to unregistered and unqualified practitioners to get cheaper services,” he added.

Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association chief executive officer Saravanan Thambirajah said ideally, healthcare should be exempted from taxes.