Putrajaya asked to exempt imported fruits, food from expanded SST
The expanded SST will cover imported fruits and food including fish, apples, cereals, and dairy products. — Photo by Viktoria Slowikowska/Pexels
KUCHING (June 20): Putrajaya has been asked to exclude daily essential imported fruits and food from the expanded Sales and Service Tax (SST) effective next month.
In making the appeal, social activist Voon Shiak Ni said the SST rate had already increased to 8 per cent, from 6 per cent, on March 1 last year.
She said the people are concerned about the implementation of the expanded SST as most essential goods will see a price hike.
'The expanded SST will cover imported fruits and food including fish as well as imported fruits like apples, cereals, and dairy products.
'Most of the goods affected are essential fruits and food for children and also the elderly, as they are essential food for their health,' she said in a statement today.
Voon opined apples and cereals should not be considered luxury food items because they are essential for families, young and old alike.
According to her, an apple costs more than RM3 now and the expanded SST, once implemented, will further increase the price, making apples unaffordable to most families.
'This is not something positive for the people,' she said.
While Malaysians understand that the government needs to generate more revenue to reduce the budget deficit through the expanded SST, she said they hoped their well-being and welfare would be considered.
This is especially so when the country's economy this year is projected to be affected by the global economic slowdown, she said.
Voon appealed to the federal government to be more sensitive to the people's needs and not burden them with more taxes and further increasing the cost of living.
'Despite the argument that the implementation of expanded SST will not significantly affect the low- and middle-income groups, the reality is that the levying of any form of taxes, even targeted taxes, will affect everyone due to the domino effect in pricing,' she claimed.
Set to take effect on July 1, the expanded SST will impose a 5 to 10 per cent sales tax on selected non-essential goods and broaden the service tax to include services such as rental or leasing, construction, finance, private healthcare, education, and beauty. expanded SST lead Voon Shiak Ni
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