SST Focus Talk with Royal Malaysian Customs

The BMCC held a special Focus Talk with the Director General of Royal Customs Malaysia, Dato’ Seri Subromaniam Tholasy who shared first-hand insights on the re-implementation of the Sales and Service Tax (SST). In his presentation to over 50 keen and engaged members from numerous backgrounds, the Dato’ Seri Subromaniam spoke on what’s new in the proposed thresholds covering various business establishments, the special areas of tax-free zones, tax exemption orders as well as the key compliance requirements of the SST. The Director General pointed out that one of the major proposed changes in SST 2.0 is the revised penalty for evasion which carries a minimum fine of 10 times the evaded amount, and/or 5 years imprisonment. He also highlighted some of the potential issues expected to arise under the SST, which includes transitional problems, new valuation methods fro transfer pricing under Sales Tax and how to ensure there are no hidden taxes for 3rd party exports.

Following his presentation, Mr. Amarjit Singh, Malaysia Tax Leader from EY moderated a discussion with the Director General where he directed questions pertaining to GST refunds and the Customs’ preference between informed versus enforced compliance. As a final takeaway message, Dato’ Seri Subromaniam urged everyone to begin registering their businesses for SST at the Customs website and to observe full compliance to avoid the new hefty penalties. The session concluded with a Q&A segment with the attending guests and a networking session with refreshments.