Premier's pol-sec urges fed govt to conduct thorough studies before policy rollouts

Borneo Post

14 hours ago

Kho Teck Wan
KUCHING (June 30): Political Secretary to the Premier, Kho Teck Wan, has urged the federal government to conduct more comprehensive studies and stakeholder engagements before implementing new policies to avoid burdening the public unnecessarily.
'Come July 1, our country will not only see the implementation of the expanded Sales and Service Tax (SST), but also the mandatory e-invoicing for businesses with annual turnover between RM5 million and RM25 million,' she said in a statement today.
'I am also 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 small, medium enterprises (SMEs) had already made the necessary changes, spent money on training, and purchased software in preparation for the e-invoice implementation.
'Now that the policy has suddenly changed, their investments have gone to waste. Their frustration and helplessness are understandable,' she said in a statement.
She stressed that the last-minute changes in the policies lacked thorough impact assessment and stakeholder engagement by the federal government.
On the exemption of imported apples and oranges from the expanded SST, Kho said the move would help ease the burden on consumers and businesses alike.
'I thank all parties who lobbied for the exemptions. However, as the announcement was made just days before July 1, I hope there will be no changes to the decision.
'Any changes now will not only make life difficult for the consumers and business owners, but also the enforcement officers,' she said.
She also expressed concern over the impact of the SST expansion on financial services where starting July 1, Malaysian banks will begin charging an 8 per cent service tax on selected fees and commission-based services.
'By Sept 1, the tax will extend to other financial services not included in the first phase of the SST rollout on July 1.
'While we are assured by the Ministry of Finance 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 will inevitably be factored into the cost of end products and services, where another price hike in the market is almost inevitable,' she said.
Kho acknowledged that the expanded SST would contribute to increasing the national revenue but urged the federal government to explore alternative ways to grow the economy.
'Instead of increasing the national coffer by taxing the rakyat, I would like to see more initiatives to boost the national coffer and the public's income through foreign investments, job creations, and export opportunities,' she said. expanded SST kho teck wan new policies Sales and Services Tax