After avocado backlash, PM now says apples, oranges will be SST-free

Summary

• Apples and oranges are now exempt from SST.

• Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim says other imported fruits will still have a small tax.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim today announced that apples and oranges will be exempted from the sales and services tax.

This came after backlash against the premier when he claimed that the sales tax expansion on imported fruits would only impact rich people eating avocados.

"I see there are many complaints that the poor and B40 still eat imported apples and oranges because they are cheap.

"Usually, when a finance minister has made a decision, they must be firm, they can't flip-flop.

"At first I thought, there's no need to eat apples and oranges, they can eat papaya, guava, langsat - when in season - dukun, durian.

"But that's ok, because (of the complaints) we give exemptions. Imported fruits will still have a small tax, but apples and oranges are exempted," he said in a speech in Putrajaya today.

Anwar, however, said that apple consumption is influenced by the old notion that eating an apple a day is healthy. He said it's not true, but that a banana a day is better due to its high potassium content.

SST expansion

The SST expansion, which includes a five percent tax on imported fruits, is set to come into effect on July 1 - which is next Tuesday.

All locally grown fruits are exempted as they do not meet the criteria of goods that are taxed under the Sales Tax Act.

Anwar noted in his speech that there are avocados being grown in Sabah.

However, as with most locally grown produce, there are concerns that local production is not sufficient to meet demand, which is why many fruits, such as mangos, are still imported.

At a press conference, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said the Finance Ministry is expected to provide a more detailed release regarding the exemptions for imported fruits, either today or tomorrow.

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