MAA Appealing For SST Discount Extension To Cope With Chip Shortage

The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) is calling for the SST discount between 50% and 100% to be extended past June 2022 (the 2-year mark).

The news of the SST discount extension appeal emerges not long after Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz made a pointed assertion that the discount/exemption period will end on June 30th, coming out during a Q&A session after MAA’s annual general meeting last week.

SST Discount Extension - Yes/ No?

MAA president Datuk Aishah Ahmad responded by saying that the organisation believes that there should be an extension of the SST discount to further solidify the rebound of the automotive market, especially given the continuing severity of the shortages experienced by semiconductor supply chains.

This will quite likely have an impact on vehicle production on a global scale further into 2022 and even into 2023 with deliveries of Malaysian and locally assembled vehicles also affected. She added that the MAA is currently drafting an appeal letter to officially request an SST discount extension but admits that the likelihood of an extension is rather low regardless.

SST + OMV = Very expensive cars?

“We have not submitted but we will know soon,” she said. “The outcome, we do not know yet. We would like the SST discount to be extended but we really do not know whether the government will accept it or not. It really is up to the government.”

With this in mind, it might be a wise idea to capitalise on the SST discount as it stands today since it might be going away for good within a few months as registrations need to be completed by July 31st to be eligible. So if you do have a particular car in mind for your next purchase, act fast!

While the (full) return of SST will bump up car prices overnight, a revision to excise duties for 2023 is yet another factor that will make things less rosy for the car buyer.