KUALA LUMPUR: The government has yet to decide on the annual revenue threshold for businesses which will be subject to the Sales and Services Tax (SST).
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the threshold, which would be determined by the Customs Department, will be set at a reasonable rate.
“We have a figure in mind but no final decision has been made yet.
“We are still in the midst of getting public feedback and we want to ensure whatever is decided will be reasonable for everyone,” he said.
Lim said the government had received many suggestions, with many asking for the limit to be set at a high amount.
However, he said the government had to be fair to all.
“If the threshold is too high, we might as well not have any tax,” he told reporters after launching the Shariah Investing Fair 2018 here.
It was previously reported that only businesses that make RM500,000 and above annually will be subjected to the SST that is set to take effect on September 1, replacing the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
On the list list of goods to be exempted from SST, which included big-ticket items like aircraft, luxury yachts, passenger ferries, helicopters, spacecraft, and skiing equipment, Lim said this was just at the proposal stage.
He said the government was open to receiving public feedback before finalising the list.
“That was merely the custom department’s proposal. It has not been finalised and we want to make sure that we get feedback from the public, before we process it and make a final decision. This is what we call a feedback loop.
“We don’t want a case where expensive items are exempted but the small fries (ikan bilis) will be taxed,” he said.
Earlier, Lim urged Malaysians to go beyond local investments and venture into global ones in order to move forward.
He said Malaysians should not be contented by becoming local hero (jaguh kampung).
“We have to go global as investing within the country itself is not enough. We must break through the international level,” he said in his opening speech.
The Shariah Investing Fair, organised by Bursa Malaysia Berhad, was held to raise public awareness and retail investment into domestic stock market investments, especially Shariah-compliant assets.
The first of its event took place in November 2017, following the set up of Bursa Malaysia-i, the world’s first end-to-end Shariah-compliant investing platform launched in September 2016.