by DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, June 26: Imported apples and oranges will be exempted from the revised sales and services tax set to come into effect on July 1, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced.
According to a report by TheStar today, responding to public concerns, the Prime Minister said while it is preferable to consume local fruits such as papayas and bananas, the Cabinet decided yesterday (June 25) to exempt these popular fruits.
鈥淭here will not be exemptions for other imported fruits as we have many local fruits to choose from. However, we compromise with apples and oranges as there have been many requests from the public.
鈥淭he sales value threshold will now be increased from half a million to RM1 million. There will be further announcements and clarification on this,鈥 he was reported as saying to the media after launching the Kota Madani project in Precinct 19, Putrajaya today.
On June 9, the government announced a targeted review of the SST rate, effective from July 1.
The sales tax rate would remain the same for essential goods, while a rate of five or 10 per cent will be imposed on non-essential or discretionary goods, including imported fruits.
Last week, the government said, it would review the implementation of the revision and expansion of the SST on several selected imported goods, including fruits such as apples and mandarin oranges. 鈥 DayakDaily