Ever since GE14, many things are slowly beginning to change in our beloved country. Once of the most significant changes taking place - that most Malaysians have been looking forward to - is the abolishing of the Goods & Services Tax (GST). Instead, the government is looking to replace GST with the Sales & Services Tax (SST) by September.
What is the difference between GST and SST?
The main difference between the two is simply the level of taxation that each affects. GST affects every layers of the supply chain; from supplier, manufacturer, retailer and all the way to consumer, each layer would need to pay 6% GST on top of whatever the cost is to Customs. On the other hand, the SST is a form of tax that only needs to be paid by the manufacturer.
Will switching to SST actually lower the price of things?
It does actually lower the price of a lot of things when we do not need to pay additional 6% on everything we buy. However we will have to see how market reacts to this when SST is being applied. Rumor has it that property prices expected to drop with construction costs lowering. Well, government is playing an important role in monitoring and controlling. Let’s hope for the best.
Hopefully medical cost is not affected. Well, we will explore and get to know more how SST affects medical industry next.
Stay tuned!