PARLIAMENT | The Service Tax Bill 2018 was passed today at the Dewan Rakyat despite objections from opposition lawmakers.

The bill formed part of the sales and services tax (SST) slated to be implemented in September.

Yesterday, the House passed the Sales Tax Bill 2018. The SST bills were first tabled in Dewan Negara on July 16.

In his winding-up debate, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng stressed that the government cannot guarantee that there will be no price hikes after the new tax is in place.

However, he believes that the impact would be half of that caused by the GST.

Lim also pointed out that the SST will not be imposed on the public development projects, which will save the government six percent on its expenditure.

The House also repealed the GST today by passing the GST (Repeal) Bill. 

Lim, who tabled the repeal bill for third reading, said "Finally, the bill is dead."

The GST, which was implement in April 2015, imposed a six percent rate collected at every stage of the supply chain. 

The unpopular consumption tax was believed to be among the reasons that led to the downfall of the previous administration in the May 9 polls.