KOTA KINABALU – The Sabah government will postpone the collection of state sales tax (SST) imposed on fisheries commodities exports, which was supposed to start on January 28. The exercise is now deferred to begin on June 30.
State Assistant Finance Minister Jasni Daya (Pantai Dalit-BN) revealed this when answering questions on the status of the controversial tax from Chong Cheng Ben (Tg Kapor-Warisan), Calvin Chong (Elopura-independent), and Justin Wong (Sri Tg-independent).
“The Sabah state government has agreed to postpone the payments (collections) of Sabah sales tax (imposed on seafood exports) due from May 2021 until December 2021 to June 30, 2022.
“The decision is final, and the details will be revealed through an announcement notice that will be issued by the (state) Finance Ministry soon,” he said at the state assembly today.
Jasni said that the tax was initially imposed on May 1 last year, specifically 5% on fish and 10% on crabs and lobsters.
However, considering pleas from the fisheries industry, the ministry through a third announcement notice dated November 3 last year, had informed that the state government agreed to postpone payment of the tax, and all outstanding tax payments from May 1 until December 28 had to the be settled by January 28 this year.
This however contradicts reported claims by fisheries export players that they have not received such a notice and only rely on news articles quoting Sabah Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan that the tax had been postponed, without clarification.
Sarifuddin Hata (Merotai-Warisan) raised this confusion in his additional question, but Jasni said that his announcement earlier was clear that the postponement was on payment and collection, and not implementation.
“The decision is final. The tax will be imposed,” he said.
“However, we will re-conduct the assessments and detailed research; it has been postponed until June 30, which is after the detailing is done. We will revise the details – how to collect the tax (and the charges). But it will be implemented,” he added.
Earlier, Jasni explained that the tax is imposed on companies involved in the export of fisheries commodities brought out of Sabah, and not on fishermen.
“The state government realises that whenever there are taxes, the businesses will choose whether to absorb the tax or bring it down to the fishermen.
“This situation is out of the state government’s control because it is on the commercial basis – willing seller, willing buyer,” he said.
Jasni also said the purpose of the tax is to ensure the sustainable fisheries supply in Sabah following the lack of high-quality fisheries for domestic consumption.
He said the tax is hoped to increase the state revenue – additional income for the state. The taxes collected are to prepare infrastructure and public facilities to increase the socioeconomic level of Sabahans, including the fishermen.
“Our purpose to implement is not complicated. In 2015, we tried (to impose this tax) but it did not go through because there were a lot of objections. Now we want to reorganise this industry so that it can have a bigger potential.
“If we don’t control what is brought out of the state, how do we monitor (the industry). We need to have an indication, and the SST will indicate how much we export and how big we can grow,” he added.
In January this year, Sabah’s fisheries industry players including exporters and fishermen had been pleading to abolish or postpone the tax that they claim is too high. – The Vibes, March 24, 2022
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