KUALA LUMPUR: About 160,000 businesses already signed up for e-invoicing can choose to leave the system after the annual sales exemption threshold was raised to RM3mil, says Deputy Finance Minister Liew Chin Tong.
He said the 160,000 were among about 1.1 million taxpayers with annual sales of RM3mil and below who were exempted under the change.
"Of these, 160,000 have registered, and they can choose whether to continue or not," he said during Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday (Oct 7).
Liew said 25,503 taxpayers with annual sales between RM3mil and RM5mil would remain in the e-invoice system, while those below the threshold could take part voluntarily.
He was replying to a supplementary question from Tebrau MP Jimmy Puah Wee Tse, who asked how many entities would be exempted and how this would affect potential tax collection.
Liew said the second part of the question was not relevant.
"E-invoice is not a system to collect more tax," he said.
He said 5,578 taxpayers with annual sales above RM100mil had been on e-invoicing since Aug 1, 2024, followed by 14,567 in the RM25mil to RM100mil band and 51,710 in the RM5mil to RM25mil band.
Liew said the pushback had come from businesses with sales below RM5mil.
He agreed with Puah that small and medium enterprises faced pressure, including from an influx of goods from abroad, and said Budget 2027 would seek to ease their burden.
Earlier, Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin asked whether the Government would return to the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Liew said the government would keep the Sales and Service Tax (SST) and take on GST's better elements, in line with what Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said on Aug 18.
"We already have e-invoice, so there is no leakage," he said.
