PUTRAJAYA, Feb 19 — Traditional and complementary medicine (TCM) practitioners who are registered under the T&CM Act 2016 [Act 775] will be exempted from the eight per cent service tax, according to the Ministry of Finance (MoF).

"As long as the TCM practitioners are registered with the Act under the Health Ministry, they will be exempted from the service tax that will come into effect on March 1, 2024,” Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan told Bernama during a special interview today.

He said in line with this decision, TCM practitioners who have registered with the T&CM Act 2016 [Act 775] do not need to register with the Royal Malaysian Customs Department and subsequently do not impose the service tax on the following services: Malay Traditional Medicine, Chinese Traditional Medicine, Indian Traditional Medicine, Homeopathy, Chiropractic, Osteopathy, and Islamic Medical Practices.

"The Finance Ministry has also agreed that this decision applies to services provided by medical or wellness centres, massage parlours or such other places managed by TCM practitioners registered with Act 775 for the aforementioned services for the period before March 1, 2024,” he said.

Commenting on the government’s decision, Amir Hamzah said this was following the decision by the MoF so that the services provided by medical or wellness centres, massage parlours or such other places managed by TCM practitioners registered under the T&CM Act 2016 [Act 775] are not categorised as taxable services, effective March 1, 2024.

"This feedback also takes into account discussions from engagement sessions with stakeholders of the TCM industry,” he said.

According to Amir Hamzah, the service tax exemption for TCM services is one of the efforts to increase the people’s well-being as has been stressed in the Malaysia Madani concept and incorporated in the Madani Economy Framework: Empowering the People.

"The decision which has been agreed by the Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is a move to improve the comfort and well-being of the people.

"At the same time, the Madani Economy Framework will also aggressively empower the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector which employs almost half of the workforce in Malaysia,” he said.

Amir Hamzah said the government agreed that there is still a long way to expand the local MSMEs to the international arena.

"As such, these entrepreneurs are dependent on domestic demand for their business survival at present, more so for MSMEs which provide services to Malaysian citizens,” he added. — Bernama