Malaysia: Is the expanded SST the new GST?

This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on November 4, 2024 - November 10, 2024 AMONG the surprises sprung by Budget 2025 were the silence on the previously planned high value goods tax (HVGT) on luxury goods and that avocado and salmon would be among “non-essential items” and “imported premium goods” taxed under the expanded sales and service tax (SST) from May 1, 2025. Treasury Secretary-General Datuk Johan Mahmood Merican said something akin to an open-ended reply when asked why the government had chosen to tax avocado and salmon but not jewellery and handbags. Does that mean luxury goods can still be part of the expanded SST, given that only “basic food items consumed by the rakyat” have been exempted from the sales tax expansion? “I’m in a situation where I can neither confirm nor deny [the statement],” Johan tells The Edge. “As part of the expansion of sales tax, we are definitely not imposing it on basic goods, but we’re certainly still reviewing areas that ...