KUALA LUMPUR: Small and Medium Enterprises Association (Samenta) Malaysia has called for the government to not introduce any new taxes in the 2025 Budget that could affect the competitiveness of SMEs.
Its national president Datuk William Ng voiced the association's concerns on the current state for SMEs that are adversely impacted by additional cost of operations.
"We are concerned that the government may be lulled into believing that our SMEs are doing well because of the strong economic rebound, moderation of inflation and strengthening of the ringgit.
"Contrary to that belief, many SMEs are badly impacted by the additional cost of doing business and are mulling steep increase in selling price.
"The margin compression challenge is further exacerbated by increased compliance cost posed by the upcoming e-invoicing mandate and ESG standards adherence and reporting," he said in a statement.
Despite these, he said various government agencies and local authorities are increasing their fees to SMEs by between 15 to 250 percent.
"Many SMEs are desperate for help, but do not know where or how to find those help."
Ng said despite the strong economic headlines, most SMEs continue to face margin compression and are being displaced by a combination of digital disruption, labour shortage and increasing compliance costs.
Instead of introducing incremental taxes, Ng said the upcoming budget should focus on SME scale, managing their costs, and tap into the various opportunities presented by the energy transition, climate change, aging population, artificial intelligence and the shifting global economic order.