Nearly half of Sabah companies yet to register for GST

With less than two months before the registration period expires for the Goods and Service Tax (GST), nearly half of companies and individual business owners in Sabah have yet to register.

An official from the GST Division of the Sabah Royal Malaysian Customs Department told Bernama that only 5,819 of 11,096 businesses have made the mandatory registration as of yesterday.

"We expect some of those who have yet to register to do so at the last minute," he said, adding that there were potential registrants who refused to abide by the requirement.

The government would implement the GST at a fixed rate of six percent on April 1, 2015 to replace the current Sales and Services Tax at 16 percent.

Companies and individual business owners who miss the Dec 31 deadline could risk being fined up to RM30,000 or imprisonment of up to two years, or both, under Section 96 of the GST Act 2014.