Here's A List Of All The Food Items That Will Be Subjected To GST From 1 July

The Customs Department has decided to cancel the gazetted order to impose the 6% Goods and Services Tax (GST) on some 60 food items from 1 July.

The department’s director-general Datuk Subromaniam Tholasy, who had confirmed about the gazetted order earlier, said in a statement today, 19 June, that the decision to scrap the plan was made following a discussion with the Finance Ministry.

Two years after the government introduced GST in April 2015, more than 60 food items that used to be zero-rated items or exempted from GST will now be taxed.

According to the Good And Services Tax (Zero-Rated Supply) Amendment (No. 2) Order 2017, which was published in the Federal Government Gazette dated 6 June 2017, tax on those food items will come into effect on 1 July onwards.

Consumers in Malaysia can expect another round of price hikes since these food items were previously untaxed.

• Seafood such as eel, swordfish, and octopus.

• Fruits such as avocados, dates (fresh only), figs (fresh only), grapes (fresh or dried), apricots, cherries, peaches (including nectarines), plums and sloes (fresh).

• Vegetables such as potatoes, beans, long beans, peas, spinach, New Zealand spinach and orache spinach (garden spinach), sweet corn, olives, cucumbers and gherkins, and mushrooms of the genus agaricus.

• Essential food items such as rice vermicelli (including bee hoon), kway teow, laksa mee, and coconut oil.

• Spices such as saffron.

• Green tea (not fermented) in immediate packings of a content not exceeding 3kg and other green tea (not fermented), and coffee.

The complete list of food items that will be taxed can be found on the Customs website or The Federal Gazette website.

"It's only a few items not consumed by the masses," he was quoted as saying by The Star Online.

It was reported that a full statement on the matter will be issued later today, 19 June.