The Finance Ministry announced today that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong gave his assent to the implementation of the Sales and Services Tax (SST) last Friday. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28 — The Finance Ministry announced today that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong gave his assent to the implementation of the Sales and Services Tax (SST) last Friday.

Minister Lim Guan Eng said this means the SST will come into effect on September 1.

“With the implementation of SST that will be gazetted before August 30, the government hopes it can alleviate the burden of the public, since the government only collects RM21 billion in SST compared to RM44 billion in GST,” Lim said in a statement.

Lim also urged businesses and traders to register for SST, as a measure to prevent any increase in prices that would put pressure on the public.

Yesterday, Lim had said that traders will be given some leeway when it comes to registration and will not be punished if they have reasons for not doing so.

The Dewan Negara passed the Sales Tax Bill 2018, Service Tax Bill 2018, Goods and Services Tax (Repeal) Bill 2018, Customs (Amendment) Bill 2018 and Free Zones (Amendment) Bill 2018 last week.