Malaysian Goods and Services Tax (GST) is similar to Valued Added Tax (VAT) in other countries and is a new form of tax in Malaysia. GST is scheduled to be implemented on 1st April 2014 in Singapore.

The Royal Malaysian Customs Department (RMC, or known also as Jabatan Kastam Diraja Malaysia) acts as the agent of the Malaysian government and administers, assesses, collects and enforces payment of GST.

Introduction of GST is seen as a means to lower personal and corporate income tax rates while maintaining a steady revenue base for the government. GST is an indirect tax as it taxes expenditure. The rate of GST is fixed at 6%.


GST Act, Regulations & Orders

Malaysian Goods And Services Tax Act 2014 has been gazetted on 19 June 2014.

GST Regulations

1)P.U. (A) 188 – GOODS AND SERVICES TAX (ADVANCE RULING) REGULATIONS 2014.
2)P.U. (A) 189 – GOODS AND SERVICES TAX (REVIEW AND APPEAL) REGULATIONS 2014.
3)P.U.(A) 190 – GOODS AND SERVICES TAX REGULATIONS 2014

GST Orders

1) P.U. (B) 319 – Appointment Of Date Of Coming Into Operation
2) P.U. (B) 320 – Appointment Of Effective Date For Imposition Of Goods And Services Tax
3) P.U.(A) 183 – Goods and Services Tax (Amount of Taxable Supply) Order 2014
4) P.U.(A) 184 – Goods and Services Tax (Rate of Tax) Order 2014
5) P.U.(A) 185 – Goods and Services Tax (Application To Government) Order 2014
6) P.U.(A) 186 – Goods and Services Tax (Tax Agent Application Fee) Order 2014
7) P.U.(A) 187 – Goods and Services Tax (Imposition of Tax for Supplies In Respect of Designated Areas) Order 2014
8) P.U. (A) 271 – Goods and Services Tax(Exempt Supplies)
9) P.U. (A) 272 – Goods and Services Tax(Zero Rated Supplies)
9A) P.U. (A) 272, Item 2, First Schedule – National Essential Medicines List
10) P.U. (A) 273 – Goods and Services Tax(Relief)

Note: This list is subject to change and will be updated from time to time.


GST Guides for Certain Industries

The following are GST Guides given by the Royal Malaysian Customs Department in dealing with GST requirements by the respective industries:

1)Accommodation Premises and Similar Establishment (revised as at 14 July 2014)
2) Advertising Services
3) Agent (revised as at 22 July 2013)
4) Agriculture, Fisheries and Livestock Industry (revised as at 20 September 2014)
5) Airline Industry
6) Approved Jeweller Scheme (revised as at 6 May 2014)
7) Approved Toll Manufacturer Scheme (revised as at 27 October 2013)
8) Approved Trader Scheme (revised as at 26 October 2013)
9) Auctioneer (revised as at 18 July 2013)
10) Commercial Banking (revised as at 4 January 2014)
11) Construction Industry (revised as at 18 November 2013)
12) Development Financial Institution (revised as at 30 January 2014)
13) Direct Selling (revised as at 27 November 2013)
14) Duty Free Shop (revised as at 27 October 2013)
15) E-Commerce (revised as at 20 August 2014)
16) Forestry Industry (revised as at 26 August 2014)
17) Freight Transportation
18) Fund Management (revised as at 27 October 2013)
19) Free Industrial Zone and Licensed Manufacturing Warehouse (revised as at 5 January 2014)
20) Government, Local Authority and Statutory Body (revised as at 10 November 2014)
21) Healthcare Services (revised as at 16 November 2014)
22) Hire Purchase and Credit Sale (revised as at 17 December 2013)
23) Insurance and Takaful (revised as at 22 October 2014)
24) Islamic Banking (revised as at 30 January 2014)
25) Investment Banking(revised as at 13 March 2014)
26) Leasing (revised as at 28 October 2013)
27) Legal Practitioners (revised as at 3 September 2014)
28) Manufacturing (revised as at 1 January 2014)
29) Money Lending
30) Money Services Business (revised as at 7 April 2014)
31) Passenger Transportation
32) Pawnbroking (revised as at 11 September 2014)
33) Petroleum Downstream
34) Petroleum Upstream (revised as at 17 October 2014)
35) Postal and Courier Services
36) Professional Services
37) Property Developer (revised as at 11 Mac 2014)
38) Relief for Second-Hand Goods (Margin Scheme)(revised as at 11 November 2013)
39) Repossession
40) Retailing (revised as at 30 December 2013)
41) Share Issuing House & Share Registrar (revised as at 10 January 2014)
42) Shipping Industries
43)Telecommunication Services (revised as at 19 July 2014)
44) Travel Industry (revised as at 10 August 2014)
45) Trustee Services
46)Venture Capital (revised as at 25 October 2013)
47) Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents (revised as at 31 October 2014)
48) Warehousing Scheme (revised as at 27 October 2013)
49) Webhosting (revised as at 23 August 2014)


Specific Guides

1)  Capital Goods Adjustment
2)  Designated Areas (revised as at 11 November 2013)
3)  Employee Benefits (revised as at 21 July 2014)
4)  Export (revised as at 4 November 2013)
5)  Free Commercial Zone (revised as at 22 July 2014)
6)  Import (revised as at 4 November 2013)
7)  Inland Clearance Depot
8)  Input Tax Credit (revised as at 27 October 2013)
9)  Partial Exemption (revised as at 4 November 2013)
10)  Payment Basis (revised as at 30 January 2014)
11)  Registration (revised as at 23 April 2014)
12)  Supply (revised as at 25 October 2013)
13)  Tax Invoice and Records Keeping (revised as at 20 July 2014)
14)  Transfer of Business as a Going Concern (revised as at 27 October 2013)
15)  Transitional Rules (revised as at 10 July 2014)
16)  Valuation (revised as at 21 March 2014)


Accounting Software Guides

Your business will be audited from time to time by JKDM auditors to ensure compliance and you may be required to produce certain accounting information as part of the audit process.

If your current accounting software is able to generate operational and financial information, it can be further enhanced to generate a GST Audit File (GAF) report which is a key requirement for GST auditing. This enhancement can greatly be time – saving and hassle free due to minimum paper document submissions.

The recommendations to enhance your existing accounting software is made available in the ‘Guide to Enhance Your Accounting Software To Be GST Compliant (revised as at 11 September 2014)’.