Cheaper supplies next month

PETALING JAYA: More than 90% of standard-rated supplies will become cheaper next month when the goods and services tax (GST) is reduced from 6% to 0%.
Tax experts said consumers can play an important role in monitoring the prices of goods and blow the whistle on traders or service providers who continue to collect GST on June 1.
Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia's (ACCCIM) SMEs and Human Resource Development Committee chairman Koong Lin Loong told China Press in a report published yesterday that consumers first need to know the current GST structure.
He explained that goods and services that are standard-rated fall under three categories: the first category whereby the price tag does not show GST; second category in which the price tagged is inclusive of GST; and third, where GST is absorbed by the trader or service provider.
Using goods or services tagged at RM100 for illustration, Koong said for the first category, in which consumers pay RM106 (RM100 + RM6 for GST) currently, only RM100 will be charged from June 1.
As for supplies under the second category, in which the price tag of RM100 is inclusive of 6% GST, consumers need only pay RM94.34 (RM100-5.66 sen in GST) when GST becomes 0%, he said, adding that for goods and services for which GST is being absorbed by the traders or service providers, the price will remain RM100 from June 1.
Meanwhile, Datuk Chua Tia Guan, head of tax and financial consulting of Great Vision Advisory Group, told the daily that consumers can help the government monitor the prices, given the ease with which they can calculate the price difference between now -- with 6% GST -- and June 1, when GST is reduced to 0%.
"Consumers should lodge reports against traders and service providers who continue to collect GST from June 1 so that action can be taken against them," he said.