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The Star

Imported apples and oranges will be exempted from the revised sales and services tax (SST), responding to public concerns, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced on Thursday.
He stated that while it is preferable to consume local fruits such as papayas and bananas, the cabinet decided on Wednesday to exempt these popular fruits.
Anwar conveyed this decision to the media after launching the Kota Madani project in Putrajaya’s Precinct 19 on Thursday.
“There will not be exemptions for other imported fruits as we have many local fruits to choose from. However, we compromise with apples and oranges as there have been many requests from the public.”
“The sales value threshold will now be increased from half a million to 1 million ringgit (US$236,634). There will be further announcements and clarification on this,” Anwar added.
In his speech earlier, he advised that it is better to eat a local banana a day rather than apples.
Anwar’s move came after a public backlash against some of the fresh tax measures, which are aimed at boosting government revenues and strengthening its financial position.
On June 9, the government announced a targeted review of the SST rate, effective from July 1.
The sales tax rate would remain the same for essential goods, while a rate of five or 10 per cent will be imposed on non-essential or discretionary goods like salmon and truffle mushrooms.
On June 19, the government stated it would review the implementation of the revision and expansion of the SST on several selected imported goods, including fruits such as apples and mandarin oranges.
Any person providing taxable services in excess of a prescribed threshold is required to register for service tax. The threshold is generally 500,000 ringgit, however certain services have a different threshold.
This story was first published by The Star


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News

Asia

Southeast Asia

The prime minister earlier urged Malaysians to eat local fruits like papayas and bananas


The prime minister earlier urged Malaysians to eat local fruits like papayas and bananas.


Anwar Ibrahim

Food and agriculture

Malaysian politics