The Sales and Services Tax (SST) rate is set at 10 per cent for sales and six per cent for services, according to Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Lim said the bill on the SST, which will replace the Goods and Services Tax, was expected to be passed in Parliament next month.

The SST was expected to bring in revenue of RM4 billion, he told reporters after officiating the National Tax Conference 2018 here today.

The government earlier said the SST would replace the six per cent GST on September 1.

“We expect to lose RM21 billion in revenue this year after zero-rating the GST (on June 1) but when the country reverts to SST, the Customs Department is estimated to collect RM4 billion by end- 2018,” Lim said.

Also present were Treasury secretary general Datuk Seri Dr Ismail Bakar, Inland Revenue Board chief executive officer Datuk Seri Sabin Samitah, Chartered Tax Institute of Malaysia president Seah Siew Yun and Customs director-general Datuk Seri Subromaniam Tholasy.

Lim expects the government to collect RM14.4 billion this year by reverting to SST, coupled with rising crude oil prices and extra dividends from government-linked companies.

To fill up the gap left by the GST, Lim added, the Finance Ministry had identified RM10 billion worth of costs saving measures including downsizing and abolishing overlapping and non-urgent programmes.

Exorbitantly priced mega projects, such as the Light Rail Transit Line 3, were being reviewed to more competitive pricing, he said.

Source: NST