By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, June 30: Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) Women chief Kho Teck Wan has expressed concern over last-minute changes to the federal government’s policies on the Sales and Service Tax (SST) and mandatory e-invoicing, highlighting the financial strain and confusion faced by small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
With the expanded SST and e-invoice requirement set to take effect on July 1, Kho noted that the last-minute exemption for businesses with annual turnover below RM500,000 had come too late for many SMEs.
“I am glad to hear about the exemption of e-invoice for businesses with an annual turnover below RM500,000. However, since the announcement was made weeks before the implementation, most SMEs had already made the necessary changes, spent money on training, and purchased software to prepare for the e-invoice rollout.
“Now that the policy has suddenly changed, their investments have gone to waste. Their frustration and helplessness are understandable,” she said in a statement today.
Kho, who is also Political Secretary to the Sarawak Premier, said that while some of the changes might bring relief to consumers, they reflect poor planning and lack of in-depth impact studies by the federal government.
“Policy changes at the eleventh hour indicate the insufficient study done on the impact of the SST by the Madani government.
“I urge the federal government to conduct more comprehensive studies, including stakeholder engagement, prior to any rollout of policies in the future to prevent the public from bearing unnecessary financial burdens due to uncertainty,” she stressed.
Kho also welcomed the decision to exempt imported fruits such as apples, oranges, mandarin oranges, and dates from Sales Tax, thanking all parties who lobbied for the move. However, she warned that any reversal of this decision would create confusion and hardship.
“As the announcement was made just days before July 1, I hope no change will be made to the decision. It would make life difficult not only for consumers and business owners but also enforcement officers,” she added.
Starting July 1, Malaysian banks will also begin charging 8 per cent service tax on selected fees and commission-based financial services, in line with the expanded scope of SST. This will be further extended to cover additional financial services by Sept 1.
“Although the Finance Ministry has assured that basic banking services for current and savings accounts will remain exempted, the bank service tax will certainly increase the cost of doing business.
“These increases in cost will naturally be passed on to consumers, where another price hike in the market is almost inevitable,” she cautioned.
Kho acknowledged the federal government’s aim to grow the national coffer through the expanded SST, but urged for a more balanced approach.
“Instead of increasing national revenue by taxing the rakyat, I would like to see more initiatives from the federal government to boost the national coffer and the rakyat’s income through foreign investments, job creation, and export opportunities,” she emphasised. – DayakDaily
