MELAKA: Beginning Nov 1, the Royal Malaysian Customs Department will restructure the sale of cigarettes and alcoholic drinks as well as control tax exemption for vehicles bought at the three duty-free islands of Langkawi, Labuan and Tioman.
Its director Khazali Ahmad said the move would increase the amount of duties/tax collected and the efficiency of collection as well as reduce loss of revenue at these three locations.
“The restructuring will enable better enforcement in terms of control over critical items (cigarettes and alcohol) in an effort to ensure there are no leakages.
“However, local residents and tourists can still buy cigarettes and alcohol at duty-free shops licensed by the department in the quantities permitted,” he said at a press conference here today.
Earlier, he officiated the closing ceremony of the Basic Course for Customs Enforcement Assistants Grade WK19 for 285 new staff here. Also present was the department’s Assistant Director-General (Enforcement) Zulkifli Yahya.
Khazali added the department would also implement the Quota Checking System for duty-free shops (SSKK) to monitor the quantity of cigarette and alcohol purchases made by buyers on the islands.
“For first-time purchases, the buyer must present his MyKad so that his data can be entered into the system, while for subsequent purchases, they need only provide the MyKad number to the officer appointed by the department.
“At the same time, we also want to find out the consumption (of cigarettes and alcohol) by locals and tourists visiting Langkawi, and if there is excessive demand, the system can control its distribution,” he said.
He added that vehicles which were given temporary duty/tax exemption in Customs Major Areas would have to pay a deposit for engine capacity of 2500cc and less in the form of general bonds while for 2501cc and above, a bank guarantee worth 50 per cent of the CIF (cost, insurance and freight) value must be provided.
He said the move was aimed at tackling the problem of people who failed to return their vehicles to the duty-free islands after 90 days in a year.
He said the re-calibrated budget 2016 on Jan 28 did not jeopardise the status of the duty-free islands or cause hardship to the people because other than cigarettes and alcohol, other goods were not affected by the controls.
