GOVT URGED TO REFINE E-INVOICE THRESHOLD FOR SMALL TRADERS

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 26 (Bernama) -- The government has been urged to refine and revise the threshold for the implementation of e-invoice currently set at between RM1 million and RM5 million, to avoid imposing excessive burdens on micro and small traders.

Yeo Bee Yin (PH-Puchong) said the actual structure of small traders in Malaysia shows that the majority are in the services sector with lower income levels, making them more vulnerable to the impact of e-invoicing implementation.

“For small traders category, the definition is that five per cent are under the manufacturing category where the income range is between RM300,000 and RM15 million, while 95 per cent fall under the services and other categories, where the income range is between RM300,000 and RM3 million,” she said.

Yeo said this during the debate on the Motion of Thanks for the Royal Address in the Dewan Rakyat today.

The government had previously agreed to postpone the implementation of e-invoice for another year for companies with annual sales between RM1 million and RM5 million, which had earlier been scheduled to take effect on January 1 this year.

Yeo added that the differences in the e-invoicing threshold would have a very significant impact on small traders required to comply with the system by 2027.

“Based on these figures, Puchong estimates that if the e-invoicing threshold is raised to RM3 million with all small traders (and) manufacturing category businesses earning above RM3 million exempted, only about 12,000 or at most 15,000 small traders would be required to implement e-invoicing by 2027,” she said.

In contrast, she said that if the existing threshold is maintained, the number of affected small traders would increase significantly, thereby raising questions about the balance between the costs and benefits of implementing the policy.

-- BERNAMA