I believe the Federal Government should reconsider their decision to impose sales and service tax (SST) on physiotherapy and Traditional and complementary medicine (TCM) treatments, which may see a significant increase in prices when the new 8% sales and service tax (SST) comes into effect in March 2024.
I believe healthcare should be seen as a “integrated holistic ecosystem”, where there is an symbiosis or integration of modern medicine and TCM with proper control and supervision for wellness of a patient This is a common and widespread evidence-based trend worldwide, and thus should be treated similarly and also be exempted from said taxes.
On top of that, traditional Chinese medicine is one of the branches of services that have been incorporated and regulated by the Ministry of Health(MoH) Malaysia through Traditional & Complementary Medicine Act 2016 as well as the National Traditional & Complementary Medicine Policy.
In addition to that, based on the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2015 (NHMS 2015), it shows that TCM plays an important role in the health care of Malaysians as it shows that almost 30% of the Malaysian population uses such services for their overall wellness.
Thus is why I welcome the move the the Deputy Finance Minister YB Lim Hui Ying to engage with the industry and Customs Department and Finance Ministry’s tax division to find a solution to this as it will affect close to 7000 local practitioners.
I believe that exemptions must be given to any facility managed by any practitioner registered under the Allied Health Professions Act 2016 [Act 774] and the Traditional and Complementary Medicine Act 2016 [Act 775] for the purpose of healthcare.