Over 2,000 premises inspected for tax hike violation

More than 2,000 premises have been inspected by the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry following the 2 percentage point increase in the Sales and Service Tax from 6% to 8%, the Dewan Rakyat was told.

Deputy Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Fuziah Salleh said 2,239 premises had been inspected and 66 notices issued under Ops Kesan as of yesterday morning.

She said those who received notices would have to justify their cost increases within four days.

“If we find there is really an unreasonable price increase, we will give them another four days to justify it.

“The ministry also has the authority to find out how much is actually spent from their raw materials up to their produce,” she said during question time in Parliament yesterday.

She was responding to a supplementary question by Nurul Amin Hamid (PN-Padang Terap), who asked about the latest developments on Ops Kesan.

Ops Kesan was launched by the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry to assess the impact of the recent increase in the SST by two percentage points, from 6% to 8%.

Separately, Fuziah said there were 5,904 cases where the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011 was violated throughout 2023. Compounds from the offences amounted to RM1.4mil.

She was responding to a question by Datuk Seri Jalaluddin Alias (BN-Jelebu) who asked about the number of traders who violated the Act throughout 2023 and whether the legislation is still relevant.

She said the ministry will monitor all traders, including hotels, food festivals, and those operating at the coming Ramadan bazaars.“The Act is enforceable for all. If there are complaints, we will look into them and calculate their margins and their productions,” she said.

Beginning March 1, the SST rate for most services, including overseas-based digital services, will increase from 6% to 8%.

Currently, only food and beverage, telecommunications and vehicle parking services have been given exemption from the tax hike.