BUDGET 2015 RON95 petrol, diesel, and LPG will be exempted from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to not burden the rakyat, says the prime minister.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said through this measure, consumers and targeted groups would not have to pay GST on the purchase of these items.

"The government also agreed that electricity consumption that is not subject to GST be increased from 200 units to 300 units.

"This will benefit 70 percent of households," he said when tabling the 2015 Budget themed 'People Economy' in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Najib ( standing in photo ), who is also the Finance Minister, said with the implementation of GST on April 1, 2015 , government revenue was estimated at RM23.2 billion.

"However, as a caring government, we have exempted several goods from GST amounting to RM3.8 billion.

"With the implementation of GST, the Sales and Services Tax will be abolished, resulting in revenue foregone of RM13.8 billion.

"This means that after deducting RM13.8 billion and RM3.8 billion from a revenue of RM23.2 billion, the government will have a balance of RM5.6 billion,” he added.

Channelled back to the people

Hence, he said of the total, RM4.9 billion would be channelled back to the rakyat through assistance programmes such as the increase in 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M).

Ultimately, he said the net revenue collection from GST would only amount to RM690 million.

Najib said based on the feedback received from all segments of society, the government has agreed to widen the scope of items that would not be subjected to GST, listed below:

  • All types of fruits, whether local or imported;
  • White bread and wholemeal bread;
  • Coffee powder, tea dust and cocoa powder;
  • Yellow mee, kuey teow (flat rice noodle), laksa (rice noodle) and vermicelli ( beehoon );
  • National essential medicine covering almost 2,900 brands. These are used to treat 30 types of diseases, including heart failure, diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and fertility treatment;
  • Reading materials such as children’s colouring books, exercise and reference books, text books, dictionaries and religious books;
  • Newspapers.
- Bernama