By Sherilyn Goh
Effective Jan 1, 2016 until Dec 31, 2016, Malaysian mobile prepaid subscribers will see their 6% goods and services tax (GST) rebates credited to their accounts within 24 hours from the day of top-up.
According to a circular sighted by KINIBIZ at a Shell petrol station, the new prepaid reload mechanism will see mobile users divided into two groups, distinguishing between Malaysian and non-Malaysian subscribers.
For Malaysians, a RM10 reload will see prepaid users getting a credit value of RM9.43 upon top-up, with the remaining RM0.57 to be credited to the user’s account within 24 hours from the top-up. This means that there will be essentially no GST accounted for Malaysian users throughout the one-year rebate period.
On the other hand, for non-Malaysian subscribers, a RM10 reload will see prepaid users getting a credit value of RM9.43 upon top-up, with the balance of RM0.57 accounting for the GST paid by non-Malaysian prepaid subscribers.
The new prepaid reload mechanism will be managed by telcos, and, effectively, telcos will be collecting the 6% GST from non-Malaysians on behalf of the government. This is unlike previously in which retailers collected 6% GST from all mobile subscribers.
Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak has previously announced that an estimated 20 million Malaysians will enjoy the benefits of the GST rebates for prepaid cards next year.
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