Kota Kinabalu: Some 95,982 electricity consumers in Sabah are expected to be affected by the increase in the Sales and Service Tax (SST) from 6pc to 8pc, effective today (March 1).
SESB Chief Executive Officer Mohd Yaakob Jaafar said the 8pc SST will be imposed on electricity usage that exceeds 600 kilowatt hour (kWh) or monthly bills that amount to RM203 and above.
“This increase is expected to affect 95,982 account holders, representing 16.72pc of the consumer base,” he said.
According to reports, the new rate will apply to most services, including overseas-based digital services.
However, food and beverage, telecommunications and vehicle parking services are exempted.
In addition, services that were previously untaxed, such as karaoke, delivery, brokerage and underwriting services, will now be subjected to the SST.
The increase in the SST rate and taxable items were announced as part of taxation reforms in the Budget 2024 last year.
It was introduced as part of the Government’s efforts to boost the country’s financial resilience and reduce its budget deficit.
Yaakob encouraged consumers to visit the SESB website for further information on the SST rate.
Meanwhile, SESB will implement several measures to ensure a stable electricity supply in the State during hot weather.
Yaakob said the energy reserve margin capacity at present is only 12 per cent, adding such a condition could pose a risk to the stability of the Sabah Grid.
“Among the measures is to increase the reserve energy up to 80 Megawatt (MW).
This includes adding generation capacity at power stations in Tawau, Sandakan and Labuan for additional electricity power up to 50MW.
“In addition, during peak load times, SESB will implement Demand Side Management (DSM), where large power consumers (LPC) in Sabah will assist in using their own generators, allowing the Grid to distribute 30MW to other consumers,” he said
He said those measures could also reduce the burden to the grid system and thus prevent shed loading to consumers.
