The new Sales and Services Tax (SST) starts this September 1st. For Sales tax, what items are fully exempted and what are going to cost you more? Is it only luxury items that are being  (sales) taxed? How are meat, vegetables, fruits, bread, and other necessities being (sales) taxed?

SST Introduction

This article focuses specifically on the Sales Tax portion of the SST. For information on the Service Tax portion, refer to this article instead. 

Malaysia’s government is reverting from Goods and Services Tax (GST) to a new Sales and Services Tax (SST) this September 1, 2018. Unlike the previous version of Sales tax, the new sales tax will be at 0%, 5%, or 10%. The official list of SST (sales) taxable items is very long (100+ pages) so we will attempt to simplify the list for commonly used/bought items for ease of reading and serves as information sharing only. Please refer to the Sales Tax (Goods Exempted from Tax) Order 2018 and Sales Tax (Rates of Tax) Order 2018 for full details.

Sales Tax Infographic




Sales Tax by Category

Latest Updates

Sep 26: New SST Exemptions

  • Cigarettes sold in restaurants
  • Salted fish
  • Seafood under crustacean and mollusc HS code
  • Groundnuts
  • Pewter
  • Boats, ferries and ships

SST Reduced from 10% to 5%

  • Cosmetic
  • Beauty products
  • Skincare products
  • Mobile phone accessories
  • Watches
  • Re-treaded tyres, motorcycle tyres and tubes

 

Food & Edibles

Fully Exempted

  • Live Animals
  • Bread
  • Cereal
  • Coffee & Tea [Editor: woot!]
  • Eggs
  • Noodles & Pasta
  • Sauces (Chili, fish, oyster, pasta, plum, sesame, soy and tomato)
  • Spices
  • Preparation of Fish
  • Prepared Animal Fodder

Meat Preparation

5% Tax except

  • Beef Ball / Meat Ball
  • Beef / Chicken Sausage

Meat & Edible Meat Offal

5% Tax (Fresh, chilled, frozen unless stated otherwise)

  • Camel Meat
  • Dolphin Meat
  • Dried Pork Skin
  • Freeze dried chicken dice
  • Monkey Meat
  • Rabbit Meat
  • Snake Meat
  • Whale Meat

Others all exempted

Fish & Sea Creatures

5-10% Tax (Fresh, chilled, frozen unless stated otherwise)

  • Abalone
  • Crab in can
  • Cuttlefish (Dried, smoked, salted, in brine)
  • Dried Shrimps (Udang Kering)
  • Gelama Belah / Salted Gelama
  • Ikan Jeruk
  • Ikan Kering / Masin
  • Ikan Masin Bulu Ayam
  • Ikan Pekasam
  • Ikan Talang Masin
  • Ikan Tamban (Kering)
  • Jellyfish / Obor-obor (Fresh, chilled, dried, frozen, salted or smoked)
  • Live Oyster / Tiram Hidup
  • Lobster in Can
  • Marine Fish Liver, Roes / Telur Ikan (Salted, smoked or in brine)
  • Mussels (Dried, smoked, salted or in brine)
  • Oyster / Tiram (Fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, smoked, salted or in brine)
  • Scallops (Fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, smoked, salted or in brine)
  • Sea Cucumber (Live, fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, smoked or salted)
  • Shark Fin / Sirip Ikan Yu
  • Shrimp and Prawn in Can
  • Siput Sedup (Fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, smoked, salted or in brine)
  • Squid (Dried, smoked, salted or in brine)
  • Tulang Ikan Merah / Talang Masin
  • Udang Geragau

Others all exempted

Milk & Dairy Products

5% Tax

  • Butter / Butteroil
  • Cheese / Keju
  • Dairy Spreads
  • Flavored Yogurt
  • Ghee / Minyak Sapi

Others all exempted

Vegetables

5% Tax

  • Corn in Tin / Jagung dalam Tin
  • Mixed Vegetables (Frozen, pickled)
  • Frozen Sweet Corn
  • Mushrooms / Shiitake / White Fungus / Cendawan (Tinned, dried)
  • Sweet Potatoes (Sliced or pellet)
  • Pickled Mustard / Sawi Masin
  • Pickled Onion / Bawang Jeruk
  • Preserved Vegetables / Tianjin

Others all exempted

Fruits

5% Tax

  • Dried Apple / Apricot / Berries / Durian / Kiwifruit / Longan / Mixed Fruits / Papaya / Pear / Prune / Strawberries / Watermelon
  • Frozen Berries / Durian / Mangosteen / Strawberries / Gambir
  • Powdered Prunes / Strawberries / Sweet Prunes

Others all exempted

Nuts, Soy, Copra & Part of Plants

5% Tax

  • Agarwood Chips (Crushed or powdered)
  • Almonds (Dried or fresh)
  • Basil Seeds / Biji Selasih
  • Batang Keladi
  • Braised Peanuts
  • Brazil Nut
  • Cashew Nut (In shell, dried or fresh)
  • Cherry (Preserved)
  • Dried Lotus Seed / Biji Teratai Kering
  • Fermented Dried Bean
  • Ginseng Roots
  • Ground Nuts
  • Hazel Nut (Dried or fresh)
  • Kacang Hijau (Dried or fresh)
  • Kacang Hitam (Dried or fresh)
  • Kacang Kuda (Dried or fresh)
  • Kacang Merah (Dried or fresh)
  • Macadamia Nuts
  • Melon Seed
  • Mixed Nuts / Dried Mixed Nuts
  • Mustard Seed / Biji Sawi
  • Onion Seeds
  • Pistachio Nuts
  • Pumpkin Seed
  • Seaweed (original)
  • Sesamum Seed
  • Spirulina
  • Walnuts (Dried or fresh)

Others all exempted

Bread, Biscuits & Pastrycooks’ Products

10% Tax

  • Chocolate Malt (including 3-in-1)
  • Oats (Containing cocoa)

5% Tax

  • Biscuits
  • Brown Rice Powder (drinks)
  • Briyani Rice Mix
  • Cendol
  • Crackers – Prawn / fish (Flour based)
  • Oats (Plain)
  • Precooked frozen (chapati / prata / bom / roti canai / wraps)
  • Popcorn
  • Protein Milk Powder
  • Reconstituted Milk Powder
  • Rice (prepared)
  • Rice Paper
  • Scones
  • Skimmed Milk

Others all exempted

Fat & Oil

5% Tax

  • Buffalo Fat / Palm / Oxen Fat
  • Camel Fat
  • Castor Oil
  • Chicken Fat
  • Corn Cooking Oil
  • Cotton Seed Oil
  • Cow Fat
  • Dolphin Fat (Liquid fraction)
  • Duck Fat
  • Geese Gat
  • Goat Fat
  • Ground Nut Oil (Crude or cooking)
  • Horse Fat
  • Illipenu Oil
  • Jejuba Oil
  • Linseed Oil
  • Mustard Oil
  • Olive Oil / Minyak Zaitun (including virgin)
  • Pig Fat
  • Prayer Oil
  • Rape Oil
  • Safflower Oil
  • Sesame Oil / Minyak Bijan (including pure)
  • Sunflower Oil
  • Tumeric Oil
  • Tung Oil
  • Turkey Oil
  • Vegetable Ghee
  • Whale Fat (liquid fraction)

Others all exempted

Beverages, Spirits & Vinegar

10% Tax

  • Beers / Bitters / Stout
  • Box / Can Drinks
  • Brandy / Cognac
  • Carbonated Drinks
  • Energy Drinks
  • Gin / Vodka
  • Liquer
  • Mead
  • Mineral Water
  • Rum
  • Sake
  • Samsu
  • Shandy
  • Sparkling Wine / Grape Juice
  • Toddy
  • Vodka
  • Whiskies
  • Wine

5% Tax

  • Vinegar (Apple cider, balsamic, black, dates, malt, rice, white, wine)

Sugar

10% Tax

  • Candy / Pastiles
  • Chewing Gum
  • Herbal Candy
  • Throat Lozenges
  • Water Melon Frost
  • White Chocolate Bar

5% Tax

  • Glucose
  • Liquid Sugar / Gula Cair

Others

10% Tax

  • Tobacco products & substitutes (except raw tobacco)

5% Tax

  • Bird’s Nest / Sarang Burung
  • Cooking Wine
  • Cream of Soup (Except for infants)
  • Honey / Madu
  • Ice Cream
  • Oats (rolled or flaked)
  • Pastes / Perencah
  • Potato (Flour, flakes, granules or pellet)
  • Preparations of Vegetables, Fruit, Nuts or other Parts of Plants (Except tauchu and tomato puree for infants)
  • Salad Dressing
  • Self Raising Powder
  • Soya Bean Flour

Materials

Fully Exempted

  • Bakery Oven
  • Breast Pump
  • Calculator
  • Chemicals
  • Clothes Dryer
  • Diapers / Napkins / Lampin (Children, adults, pets)
  • Female Sanitary Products
  • Fertilizers
  • Insecticides & Disinfectants
  • Mineral Products
  • Nursing Pad
  • Pharmaceutical Products
  • Water Filter Dispenser
  • Wood Pulp & Waste of Paper

10% Tax

  • Air-Conditioning
  • Articles of Bamboo & Rattan
  • Articles of Aluminium, Copper, Iron & Steel
  • Articles of Rubber (Except bicycle inner tube, condom, rubber teat for feeding bottles)
  • Articles of Leather
  • Artificial Flowers
  • Bags & Cases
  • Brushes
  • Car battery
  • Ceiling Fans
  • Ceramic Products (Except bricks)
  • Coloring Matter
  • Cork
  • Cosmetic Products & Perfume (Except essential oils)
  • Electrical Appliances (Adaptor, air fryer, amplifier, battery, coffee maker, digital camera, microwave, rice cooker, TV, toaster, etc)
  • Footwear (Except riding boots)
  • Freezer
  • Furniture (Except barber/dentist chair)
  • Hair Fixers (Clip, curler, pin, etc)
  • Headgear (Cap, helmet, songkok, etc)
  • Glass and Glassware
  • Glue
  • Igniter, Matches & Explosive Products
  • Knifes
  • Miscellaneous Chemical Products including plastic and plastic bags (Except baby feeding bottle, bed pan, breastshells, nipple/shields, prayer beads, and pregnancy test)
  • Musical Instruments
  • Paint & Varnish
  • Pet Kennels
  • Saddlery & Harness for Animals
  • Sewing Machine (Except portable sewing machine)
  • Stainless Steel Products
  • Stationery
  • Stone Products (Except building blocks/bricks and tombstones)
  • Soap, Wash, Pax & Similar Articles (Except joss stick candle)
  • Textiles (Except kain Ehram, nylon string, and wool fine/coarse animal hair)
  • Toys, Games & Sports Equipment (Except balls, cricket pad, table tennis-related, squash & tennis rackets)
  • Umbrellas
  • Watches
  • Wood & Articles of Wood (Except charcoal, coffin, joss sticks, pet bedding, plywood, and prayer beads)

5% Tax

  • Barcode Readers
  • CD / DVD
  • Computer Mouse & Keyboard
  • Cordless Phone, Modem & Fax Machines
  • Digital Copier & Printers
  • Handphone / Mobile / Smartphone
  • Laptops, Notebooks & Computers
  • Monitors & Video Projectors (Direct use computer)
  • Shingles and shakes, unassembled parquet flooring, window frame, wooden lattice
  • USB Drive / Pen Drive

Paper & Articles of Paper

10% Tax

  • Ang Pow Envelops
  • Bookmark
  • Box
  • Carbon Paper
  • Cigarette Paper
  • Paper Towels
  • Price Sticker
  • Printed Label
  • Punch Card
  • String Envelop
  • Table Mat / Tablecloth
  • Tissue / Pocket Tissue
  • Toilet Roll / Paper
  • Tracing Paper
  • Vegetable Parchment
  • Wallpaper

0% Tax

  • A4 Paper
  • Address Book
  • Bill Book
  • Cash Book
  • Photo Album
  • Receipt Book
  • Sugar Paper
  • Voucher

Vehicles

10% Tax

  • All Terrain Vehicle (ATV)
  • Aeroplanes
  • Ambulance
  • Baby Stroller
  • Bus / Minibus
  • Caravan
  • Concrete Mixer Lorries
  • Electric Bicycle / Motorcycle
  • Food Cart / Truck
  • Helicopters
  • Lorry CBU
  • Motocar Hatchback / Sedan CBU
  • Motocross Motorcycles
  • Motorcycle CBU Above 200cc
  • Motor spare parts
  • Ships
  • Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) CBU/CKD
  • Wheelbarrow

0% Tax

  • Bicycle
  • Bulldozer & Excavator
  • CDK Dumper Truck
  • Lorry CKD
  • Motocar Hatchback / Sedan CKD
  • Motorcycle Below 200cc or CKD
  • Wheelchair (including electrical)
Source: Royal Malaysian Customs Department. Information shared as a simplified reference based on information at time of preparation. Please check the official Customs website (customs.gov.my) for full and complete information. E&OE.

FAQ

Q: How is the vehicle CKD tax handled?
A: Malaysia’s Customs has come out to clarify that the CKD 0% tax is on the CKD packs and not the final assembled vehicles. This means SST will still be charges on all vehicles at time of sale.

More Info

What are your thoughts on the new Sales Tax implementation in Malaysia?