The government will exempt 8 million users paying the additional sales and service tax has come into effect from today (March 1).
This involves users of public water services involving 87 percent domestic and 13 percent non-domestic users in the Peninsula and the Federal Territory of Labuan. This was conveyed by the Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation (Petra) which said a total of 4.7 million users of the sewerage system in the Peninsula and the Federal Territory of Labuan will also not be affected by the increase in charges.
In a statement the ministry said the government will ensure that the basic needs of the people are prioritised, at the same the ministry remind the public to use water prudently, especially when the country is dealing with hot and dry seasons in most states. Malaysia saw an increase of SST rising to 8 percent compared to the previous 6 percent as announced in the 2024 Budget Presentation last October.
The new government aims to reduce the country’s budget deficit and is using the increase in SST as one of the means to achieve this.
