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Perak confident abolition of GST can lower house prices

Last update: 14/08/2018

IPOH, Aug 14 (Bernama) -- Perak is confident that the abolition of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) which will be replaced by the reintroduction of the Sales and Service Tax (SST) can lower overall house prices in the state.

State Housing, Local Government, Public Transport, Non-Islamic Affairs and New Villages Committee chairman Paul Yong Choo Kiong said this was because SST was only applied at the earlier stage and does not involve a lot of transactions.

“I do not want people confused that SST is more troublesome when actually it is not. In terms of housing SST will be charged only once, that is when industrial players sell to distributors. 

“So house prices will become cheaper, construction costs will decrease while contractors charges will be lower and we will be able to see the difference with the launch of a new housing project, he told reporters after opening  the Perak State Housing Policy Workshop 2018 here today.

He was commenting on a recent statement by Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng on the abolition of GST and exemption of SST on construction services, and building materials, which is expected to ease the pressure on prices of houses, industrial and commercial buildings.

According to Lim, the Federal Government expects construction costs will be much lower following the SST exemption on raw materials such as cement, sand and iron.

On the two-day workshop starting today, Paul said it was aimed among others to seek improvement  and solve housing problems in line with the National Housing Policy 2.0.

-- BERNAMA