PUTRAJAYA, June 26 — The government has opted to exempt apples and oranges from the revised and expanded Sales and Services Tax (SST) implementation that will encompass imported fruits.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the decision was made after taking into account concerns raised by the public, especially from lower-income groups.

Anwar, who is also the Finance Minister, said the matter was brought up for discussion in Cabinet yesterday.

“Since there are ongoing public concerns on the matter, we (the Cabinet) have agreed to provide some relaxations in that imported fruits are still taxed but exemptions given to apples and oranges,” he said in his speech at the Kota Madani groundbreaking ceremony here today.

He said the demand for apples was due to the old saying, ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away.’

”That’s not true. It’s ‘a banana’ because bananas are high in potassium,” he added.

When asked to elaborate on Putrajaya’s latest move, Anwar said more details will be announced soon.

“Yes, we have received feedback that apples and oranges are still being consumed in large quantities by the masses, so we compromised,” he told reporters briefly.

Previously, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the government was open to reviewing the implementation of the revised and expanded SST on several selected imported goods, including fruits such as apples and mandarin oranges.

On June 9, the government announced a targeted SST review set to take effect from July 1, 2025.

The sales tax rate will remain unchanged for essential goods, while a five or 10 per cent rate will be applied to non-essential or discretionary goods.

The scope of service tax has also been expanded to cover six new categories: rental or leasing, construction, finance, private healthcare, education and beauty.