You may soon need to pay more if you want to Netflix and chill.
The Malaysian Customs Department has revealed that online streaming services in Malaysia such as Netflix and iflix are expected to be taxed soon.Its Director-general Datuk Seri T. Subromaniam told The Star Online that the tax will come under the proposed amendments to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act, which will now reportedly include the digital economy.
According to Subromaniam, the new proposal has been submitted to the Finance Ministry for approval and is expected to be tabled at the Dewan Rakyat later this month.
“We need a modern, comprehensive and progressive taxation system to tax revenue from the digital economy,” he was quoted as saying.
And that's not the end of the bad news: you may also need to pay GST for products you buy from foreign e-commerce sites.
Subromaniam told the news portal that the new ammendments will also include taxing foreign companies that do online business with Malaysian customers, so if you're a big fan of shopping on sites such as ASOS or JD Sports, this could spell trouble for you.
This new ammendments, according to Subromaniam, will help the Customs Department meet its Key Performance Index target of collecting RM42bil in GST this year.
Great to know we're helping you guys hit your KPI. May you spend your ten months bonus wisely.