KUALA LUMPUR: A Perikatan Nasional member of Parliament has questioned the government over the implementation of the High-Value Goods Tax (HVGT) announced in the previous budget.
"I would like to ask Tambun (Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) what has happened to HVGT, which was supposed to be implemented this year?," Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (PN-Pagoh) said in the Dewan Rakyat.
In November 2023, the Finance Ministry said the HVGT, also known as the luxury goods tax, would be implemented from May 2024.
Subsequently, the government announced it was refining policies and legislation linked to the HVGT to ensure the tax could be implemented in an orderly and efficient manner.
"We have not heard any updates about it. Has it been postponed or cancelled? The 10 per cent sales tax on low-value goods has already been implemented since January this year," Muhyiddin said when debating the 2025 Budget.
"It seems like the poor, who buy cheaper goods, are being taxed, while the rich, who purchase expensive items, are not. This is a backward policy," the former prime minister said.