FMM sokong terap ciri terpilih GST dalam SST

Malaysia's Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) has welcomed the government's exploration of incorporating certain key features of Goods and Services Tax (GST) into the Sales and Services Tax (SST) system. Presiding over this move is FMM President Jacob Lee, who believes it offers a practical approach to addressing the issue of overlapping taxes without requiring a wholesale revamp of GST in the near future.

Lee explains that overlapping taxes, where sales tax is imposed on a product at each stage of the supply chain, is a major drawback of the SST. He elaborates that taxes paid on business inputs generally cannot be reclaimed, thereby embedding the cost within the production and distribution costs throughout the supply chain.

According to Lee, the government's proposal opens up a practical pathway to integrate the essential feature of GST into the SST framework. He highlighted that the issue of overlapping taxes becomes particularly pressing as the extension of the SST system to more sectors continues, such as the increase in service tax rates from 6% to 8% for most services, while the logistics sector rate remains at 6%.

Exceptions, reductions, and transitions granted by Putrajaya have proven that the wider cost implications necessitate further refinements after implementation.

Since July 2025, service tax has been expanded to cover additional areas, including services, levies, construction, and financial services. Recently, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that the government is open to examining a combined system that merges elements of GST and SST to create a more progressive tax structure.