Finance Ministry: Foreign online services need to register with Customs

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 7): The Finance Ministry said today foreign online services will need to register with the Royal Malaysian Customs Department to ensure a level playing field between Malaysian and foreign companies.

Malaysiakini, quoting the ministry's national budget office director Johan Mahmood Merican, reported that foreign online services will need to register with the Customs Department under the relevant service taxes if they wish to continue operating in Malaysia.

"The government will basically engage with the larger online services which will then need to register with Customs if they want to continue supplying those services to Malaysian consumers. So this is an announcement, we will work out the details and guidelines which we will then communicate to these companies.

"I don't want to go into individual companies, but the principle on a whole is to make sure there is a level playing field. Further details will be announced later," he said at a press conference after a briefing on Budget 2019 and the 11th Malaysian Plan midterm review at the Communications and Multimedia Ministry in Putrajaya today.

Johan, however, said it is likely that not all foreign online service companies will be affected by this new tax. He was quoted as saying the new tax will have a threshold, hence smaller companies may be exempted. — theedgemarkets.com

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