The Service Tax Bill 2018 was passed yesterday at the Dewan Rakyat despite objections from opposition lawmakers.<br /><br />The bill formed part of the sales and services tax (SST) slated to be implemented in September.<br /><br />On Tuesday, the House passed the Sales Tax Bill 2018. The SST bills were first tabled in Dewan Negara on July 16.<br /><br />In his winding-up debate, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng stressed that the government cannot guarantee that there will be no price hikes after the new tax is in place.<br /><br />However, he believes that the impact would be half of that caused by the GST.<br /><br />Lim also pointed out that the SST will not be imposed on the public development projects, which will save the government six percent on its expenditure.<br /><br />The House also repealed the GST by passing the GST (Repeal) Bill.
