KUALA LUMPUR: The total amount of items exempted or zero-rated are higher under the Sales and Service Tax than the Goods and Services Tax, the Dewan Rakyat was told.
According to the Finance Ministry, there were 1,826 items exempted for the SST compared to 607 items exempted from taxes under the GST before it was abolished in 2018.
The Finance Ministry said the main items exempted cover basic necessities such as food ingredients, medicine and reading material.
"The SST also excludes livestock and pet food, basic construction materials, fertilisers, pesticide, as well as agricultural and livestock machinery," it said in a parliamentary written reply dated Aug 19.
The Finance Ministry also said the SST is levied on 70% of the number of services in the economy compared to 76% under the GST, based on the list of services under the Malaysia Standard Industrial Classification Codes.
"The government remains committed and careful in widening the scope of SST. This will be done targeted and progressively by taking into account impact towards the cost of living," it said.
"The more exempted items and lower scope of services under the SST compared to the GST reflects the government’s sincerity in safeguarding public prosperity while ensuring stronger fiscal sustainability of the country, in line with the core of the Madani economic framework," it added.
The Finance Ministry was responding to Yuneswaran Ramaraj (Pakatan-Segamat), who asked about the amount of items that were tax exempted under the SST compared to the GST.
