PUTRAJAYA: Almost 85 per cent of domestic consumers living in the Peninsula will not be affected by the service tax hike from 6 to 8 percent, to be implemented starting tomorrow.
The Energy Transition and Water Transformation Ministry said the government's decision on taxation reforms was not applicable to a vast majority of consumers, who would not feel the pinch when paying for utilities.
"For electricity, the service tax would only apply for households which have high electricity consumption above 600 kWh, a month. Thus, 6.96 million consumers or 84.3 percent of consumers living in the residential category in the Peninsula will not be subjected to SST.
"This service tax hike applies to approximately 15.7 percent or 1.29 million users in the same residential category that use electricity above 600kWh who may see an increase of electricity charges between RM0.01 to RM45.48 per month or 0 per cent to 1.66 per cent per month with the 2 percent increase in the Service Tax rate," it said in a statement today.
The ministry said this targeted subsidy is one of the government's approaches in ensuring subsidies are given to people who are deserving of it.
"Consumers may refer to their respective monthly electricity bills to monitor their electricity consumption and the subsidies which are provided. This way, they can also estimate the monthly electricity bills in future by using the electricity tariff calculator available via myelectricitybill.my website," it said.
The ministry also encouraged a prudent use of electricity by prioritising the use of energy efficient electrical equipment at home.
It also offered other suggestions to consumers such as conducting energy consumption audits and analysing electricity consumption.
Among other things, it said replacing home electrical equipment to those with an energy efficiency ratings of four- or five -star; carrying out regular maintenance; switching off appliances when not in use; and setting the air conditioning temperature between 24°C to 26°C would constribute to lower electricity usage.
The ministry said consumers can also take advantage of the e-rebate of up to RM400 given by the government through the Sustainability Achieved via Energy Efficiency (SAVE) 4.0 programme for the purchase of energy efficient air conditioners and refrigerators endorsed by Energy Commission.
It said initiatives such as the Net Energy Metering for Government Ministries and Entities (NEM GoMEn) and NEM Net Offset Virtual Aggregation (NEM NOVA) programmes would also minimise the cost of electricity bills.
The increase in service tax from six to eight percent beginning tomorrow spans a list of sectors and services.