KUALA LUMPUR: The government is expected to generate about RM3 billion in revenue following the increase of the sales and service tax (SST) from six to eight per cent on March 1.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the increase in SST also did not have a significant impact on inflation.

"We increased the SST rate from six to eight per cent effective March 1, which focuses more on discretionary service-related activities and inter-business activities that involve the public less directly.

"Expenditure on food and beverages, as well as telecommunications, remains at six per cent, while expenditure on utilities such as water and petrol remains untaxed.

"The changes also do not reflect a significant impact on the inflation rate, which is recorded at around 0.2 percentage points based on data provided by the Statistics Department," he said during the prime minister's question time in Dewan Rakyat, today.

Anwar said this in response to Datuk Mohd Shahar Abdullah (BN-Paya Besar) who enquired about the impact on the cost of living for the people and the production costs of industries due to the increase in sales and services tax (SST) tax from six to eight per cent which came into force in March.

Mohd Shahar also enquired about the additional revenue collection amount from the implementation of all new tax measures for this year.

https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2024/03/1030610/rm3bil-estimated-sst-increase-says-anwar