Govt may announce more zero-rated items under GST

The government may announce additional zero-rated items under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the Budget 2015 announcement in October.

"We have decided on the additional zero-rated items and may announce the list in the Budget," said Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan.

He was responding to a media question after speaking at a GST awareness seminar organised by the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, here on Aug 11.

According to Royal Malaysian Customs Department GST director, Datuk Subromaniam Tholasy, nearly a third of the 944 items within the consumer price index basket will be zero-rated, and there are additional items joining the list after taking into the account public feedback.

As of Aug 10, 9,067 companies of the some 300,000 liable to take part in the GST scheme, had registered with the customs department, he said.

The department has set a goal of attracting 123,000 companies to register for the GST scheme by end of September.

In his earlier speech, Maslan said the GST is a new tax regime helping Malaysia increase competitiveness and move towards a high-income nation by 2020.

The tax collected from the GST will be able to help the government fund more subsidies to specific groups, such as the 1Malaysia People's Aids (BR1M), he added.

Malaysia is set to replace its current Sales and Services Tax (SST) and implement the GST on April 1, 2015.