By DASHVEENJIT KAUR / Pic By TMR

A total of 92,682 businesses have registered under the Sales and Services Tax (SST) scheme as of Oct 23, but the authority is giving ample time to traders who fails to act on the requirement.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng (picture) said out of the total, 57,298 were registered under the services tax, while 35,384 were registered under the sales tax.

“Those who have yet to register is advised to do it soon. The Customs Department will not propose taking action first but will give the traders time,” he told the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

Lim said businesses that fail to register under the SST are committing an offence and could be fined not exceeding RM30,000, or an imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or both.

“As for traders who refuse to pay taxes, they can be subjected to a compound not exceeding 50% of the amount of the maximum fine, if found guilty,” he said, adding that the punishments are spelt out under Section 95 of the Sales Tax Act 2018 and Section 80 of the Services Tax Act 2018.

Lim was responding to a question by Kota Baru MP Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan who asked the finance minister how many companies have registered under the SST scheme as of September 2018 and what action will be taken against those who fail to do so.

Lim said the SST is a new tax implemented only on Sept 1 and the Customs Department is taking a more “friendly, caring and softer” approach.

“We want to use the educational approach, that is why we are still advising companies to register immediately.

“The authorities is not planning to take action yet, and we will give a grace period, but if they are still stubborn, we will take the action I outlined just now,” he added.