KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 — DAP lawmaker Lim Guan Eng has dismissed as “baseless and untrue” accusations that he only began criticising the government’s expanded Sales and Services Tax (SST), e-Invoicing rollout and delayed tax refunds after the Sabah state election, insisting he had repeatedly raised the issues in Parliament for nearly a year.

In a statement today, the Bagan MP said he had consistently warned Putrajaya that the tax measures — including SST imposed on sectors like private education and thresholds affecting SMEs — were causing financial strain on ordinary Malaysians and small businesses. 

His clarification follows Malay Mail’s report yesterday, in which Lim was reported as saying that the expanded SST, especially on tuition fees and small business activities, contributed to frustration among Sabah Chinese voters who swung heavily away from Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the November 30 polls. 

Malay Mail reported Lim as saying that higher SST rates on private college fees and expanded coverage for businesses earning above RM1 million were effectively “taxes on the future of our children”.

Today, Lim said his critics had ignored the fact that he had made at least seven speeches in Parliament since December 2024 calling for the government to review or delay the expanded SST, e-Invoicing and other tax requirements, including the proposed 2 per cent employer contribution to EPF for foreign workers. 

“The allegations that I had only raised the hardship of the rakyat caused by the expansion of the taxation base of the SST, e-Invoicing and delayed refunds of excess taxes paid only after and not before the Sabah state general elections are baseless and untrue,” he said. 

He listed seven specific parliamentary interventions — on December 4, 2024; February 5, 2025; March 3 and 6, 2025; May 5, 2025; August 6, 2025; and October 16, 2025 — where he objected to the widened SST scope and urged for reviews of policies he argued would “burden the people”. 

He also said members of the parliamentary press gallery could confirm his repeated warnings.

Lim again pointed to the case of SME owner Cheong Wei Foong from Puchong, whose RM115,000 in excess taxes has been held by the Inland Revenue Board since 2020, saying the five-year delay was “unfair and unreasonable” and an example of how tax administration failures exacerbate the burden faced by small businesses already coping with compliance requirements under e-Invoicing and the expanded SST.

He added that despite his repeated appeals, his concerns were ignored by the federal government and by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who went ahead with the implementation of the measures in the second half of 2025. 

Lim said the outcome of the Sabah polls has now shown that voters “are not satisfied or unhappy about these extra taxes”, echoing what Malay Mail reported about how dissatisfaction over SST costs contributed to PH’s collapse in support among Sabah’s Chinese electorate.

“The prime minister can choose not to listen to me. However, he cannot afford to refuse to listen to the voices of Sabah voters,” Lim said, warning that continued refusal to acknowledge voter frustration over tax policy risks weakening support for PH, DAP and the unity government. 

“I urge the prime minister to reconsider.”