Malaysia seeks tax exemption for palm oil raw materials

Malaysia’s commodities ministry is pushing to exempt crude palm kernel oil and palm kernel olein oil from the country’s sales and services tax (SST), the ministry announced on Tuesday.

The SST was expanded in July to cover the palm oil and oleochemical sectors, currently imposing a 5% levy on these raw materials, News.Az reports.

Deputy Plantation and Commodities Minister Chan Foong Hin told Parliament that the exemption request has been submitted to the Finance Ministry. “This exemption is justified considering that both are raw materials in the production of oleochemical products and not final products subject to taxation by the government,” he said.

Chan also noted that proposals are being considered to grant SST relief for certain services critical to the industry, aiming to ease cost pressures on palm oil producers.

Tags: Malaysia, crude palm kernel oil, palm kernel olein oil, oleochemical products, sales and services tax