BAGAN MP Lim Guan Eng has urged the government to postpone and reconsider a proposal to raise sales and service tax (SST) rates.

Under Budget 2024, the government planned to increase the SST rate from 6% to 8%, not including food and telecommunications services.

The government also planned to expand the scope of taxable services to include logistics, brokerage, underwriting and karaoke businesses.

Lim, when debating the budget in Dewan Rakyat today, said this move might pose too big an impact on the people.

He voiced concern that the introduction of more taxes amid economic challenges and global geopolitical turmoil would affect the country’s growth, particularly the capital gains levy for the disposal of unlisted shares by local companies based on their net profit at a rate of 10% from March 1.

He said there were fears the tax would be extended to all Bursa Malaysia-listed companies. – Bernama, October 18, 2023.