Tax, subsidy changes will squeeze middle class - Syed Saddiq

BUDGET 2024 | The increase in taxes and changes in subsidies, as announced during the tabling of Budget 2024 today, will suppress the middle-class income group which makes up the majority of Malaysians, said Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.


Speaking at a press conference at the Parliament lobby, Syed Saddiq questioned if the sales and service tax (SST), which was proposed to be increased from six percent to eight percent, is a disguise for the controversial goods and service tax (GST).

“Why I say GST is disguised as SST is because previously, the government insisted that it didn’t want (to reintroduce) GST because there is a deficit of eight to nine billion where if you implement SST, you won’t get as much money as GST.

“So because they don’t want to reintroduce GST, they increase the SST rate.

“It is clear that (SST) is the ‘mask’ for GST,” he said.

Earlier, Anwar said the increase in SST does not involve the food and beverage industry and telecommunications.

The affected industries include logistics, brokerage, underwriting and karaoke.

[More to follow] - Mkini