KOTA KINABALU – Sabah’s Agriculture and Fisheries Ministry is seeking further postponement of the state sales tax, seeing that the sector is still reeling from the ill effects of the pandemic.
Minister Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan said in a statement today that he sympathises with the industry players as their situation has remained unchanged since August last year.
“I have not changed my stance on this issue. Unfortunately, the topic of tax is not under my ministry but falls under the Finance Ministry,” he said.
Kitingan, who is also the state’s deputy chief minister, said the sales tax was suspended from May to December last year and the fishing industry should not be asked to pay it.
He explained that the issue of deferring the tax until the economic situation improves was discussed at length last year with Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Mohd Noor, who also helms the state’s Finance Ministry.
“Both ministries agreed and decided that it was best to postpone the implementation of the state sales tax on fishery commodities export at the time.
“Since the economy is yet to fully recover, I will try to persuade the Finance Ministry to reconsider postponing the tax again,” he said.
In April 2021, the Sabah government told seafood exporters that the state sales tax, specifically 5% on fish and 10% on crabs and lobsters, would be imposed from May 1.
This forced fishermen to launch a strike called “Mogok Lautan” (Ocean Strike) after exporters pressed on lower buying prices as they had to pay the state sales tax.
After the grace period for the tax ended on July 31, the government decided not to impose the new tax regime.
Instead, Sabah’s Finance Ministry on January 5 issued a notice reminding fisheries groups to pay up their outstanding state sales tax from May to December last year. – The Vibes, January 19, 2022
