Motor traders plead for sales tax cut to move unsold stock

Sarawak motor traders are calling for sales tax to be cut by half. (Bernama pic)

KUCHING: The Association of Malay Importers and Traders of Motor Vehicles Malaysia (Pekema) Sarawak has urged the federal government to slash the sales tax on vehicles by 50% to help them reduce mounting stock of unsold vehicles in the state.

The association’s president, Abang Khalid Abang Marzuki, said almost all association members faced a problem of huge stock of unsold vehicles involving imported vehicles.

“If the tax exemption could include these vehicles, I believe the stock can be sold, thereby reducing the existing stock of vehicles and thus, Pekema members can re-import their vehicles,” he said in a statement here.

Abang Khalid said with this tax exemption, more affordable vehicle prices could be offered to buyers and further boost the local automotive industry.

The association hoped that the government can introduce more specific tax exemptions that can impact businesses, including incentives in the form of reduction in import and excise duties.

The federal government has fully waived the sales tax for locally-assembled vehicles for a six-month period to help the local automotive sector recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. Sales tax on fully-imported vehicles will be cut by 50% from June to December. - FMT