MOF tables seven amendment bills for first reading

The bills are Windfall Profit Levy (Amendment) Bill 2020; Service Tax (Amendment) Bill 2020; Sales Tax (Amendment) Bill 2020; Free Zones (Amendment) Bill 2020; Excise (Amendment) Bill 2020; Customs (Amendment) Bill 2020; and Tourism Tax (Amendment) Bill 2020.

All the bills were tabled by Deputy Finance Minister II Mohd Shahar Abdullah.

The Windfall Profit Levy (Amendment) Bill is, among others, aimed at empowering the minister to remit the whole or any part of the extraordinary profit levy to be paid and the director-general to remit the whole or any part of the penalty payable under the Act.

The Service Tax (Amendment) Bill is aimed at empowering the director-general to order any registered person to deduct the amount of repayment against the amount of service tax payable form the statement under Section 26, while the Sales Tax (Amendment) Bill aimed at allowing the director-general to hold the whole or any part of the repayment amount to be credited to any subsequent or subsequent taxable period.

The Free Zones (Amendment) Bill is aimed at inserting new sections 17A and 17B into the existing Act to give more power to senior officers of Customs in relation to enforcement, investigation and inspection, while the Excise (Amendment) Bill is aimed at amending subsection 19(1) to provide the minimum amount of claims for tax returns that can be made on goods which excise duties have been paid when the goods are exported.

The Customs (Amendment) Bill is aimed at amending subsection 93(1) to provide that when any goods are being re-exported, the director-general may authorise nine-tenths of the paid duties to be repaid as a tax return, while the Tourism Tax (Amendment) Bill meant to provide a new definition of ‘digital platform service provider’ and ‘services related to online reservation of accommodation’.