The Finance Ministry is extending the services of information counters which began last Tuesday to address questions arising from the sales and service tax (SST) implementation, especially among traders.

It is not known for how long the information counters at the Federal Territory Customs Complex in Kelana Jaya will operate.

In a statement today, Minister Lim Guan Eng said some 1,300 traders had benefited from the service since it started last week.

He said there were 10 kiosks and 12 information service counters, adding that the service was provided in collaboration with the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (RMCD).

“Two special officers from the Ministry and RMCD officers were able to attend to most of the complaints, issues and questions pertaining to SST implementation, while those which involved SST policies which could not be resolved by RMCD had been brought to the Finance Ministry for further consideration,” he said.

He said that following up on public feedback it had received, the Finance Ministry has lowered the rate of sales tax, especially on certain items commonly used by the lower-income population.

“Together with the RMCD, the ministry has decided to lower the SST rate for floor sweepers from 10 percent to five percent, which is lower than the previous rate of six percent,” he said.

Lim said the RMCD would undertake several improvements during the month to make it easier for traders and ensure that the SST would not be a burden to the consumers.

“It should be noted that the government will only be collecting RM21 billion from the SST compared to the RM44 billion under the Goods and Services Tax for 2019, and the people should benefit from this reduction in tax collection,” he added.

– Bernama