PUTRAJAYA, July 17 — Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARa) recipients can make cashless purchases of basic necessities at 600 selected supermarkets and grocery stores throughout the country, said Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan.
He said among the retail outlets participating in the programme are Mydin Mohamed Holdings Bhd, 99 Speedmart, Econsave, Lotus’s Malaysia and Giant Hypermarket.
“SARa recipients need only show their IC (MyKad) when making purchases at any of these 600 supermarkets or grocery stores.
“Any balance from the first month’s contributions (which begin today) can be carried forward to the next month,” he told a press conference after launching the Handholding Indirect Tax and Voluntary Disclosure Programme (VDP) 2.0 here today.
Ahmad said the list of participating outlets is available on the official portal of Rahmah Cash Aid (STR) at https://bantuantunai.hasil.gov.my.
Yesterday, the government announced that more than 210,000 STR recipients in the hardcore poor category based on e-Kasih data will receive RM600 in SARa aid beginning today, with RM100 cash per month for six months until December.
On another matter, Ahmad said the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (JKDM) had collected revenue totalling RM5.57 million through VDP 2.0 between June 6 and July 15 this year.
He said the programme, which runs from June 1, 2023 to May 31, 2024, is targeting 2,000 applications involving revenue collections of RM200 million.
He said VDP offers opportunities to companies and individuals to voluntarily own up to and settle their tax dues without having to pay any penalties.
“To create a more positive, effective and efficient tax culture, the Finance Ministry through JKDM has undertaken tax reforms to encourage taxpayers to voluntarily declare their taxable goods or services, including tourism tax,” he said.
VDP 2.0 is a continuation of the earlier initiative implemented from January 1 to September 30, 2022, which involved 16,880 applications and netted RM700 million in tax revenue. — Bernama
