KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has directed the Finance Ministry to conduct a full study on the proposal to introduce a hybrid taxation system that combines the current Sales and Services Tax (SST) with the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Government spokesman Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil said Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan has been tasked with overseeing the study of the hybrid taxation system’s suitability.

He said the ministry has been given time to prepare a report on the proposal before it is brought back to the Cabinet for further discussion.

“At present, the proposal is still at an early stage and could not be decided yet as it required further examination of various other aspects,” he said in the weekly post-cabinet media briefing that was broadcast live today.

“This includes lessons learned from the previous implementation of GST as well as issues faced under the current SST system.

“These matter will be looked into by the Finance Ministry before being brought for discussion and a decision at the Cabinet level,” he added.

Fahmi, who is the communications minister, added that there was no specific time period to complete the study.

He said the government also has yet to make a decision on the proposed hybrid taxation system.

Yesterday, Anwar was reported as saying that the government was open to studying the need to combine the SST and the GST to improve the country's taxation system towards being more progressive.

The GST, a broad-based consumption tax, was introduced in April 2015 at 6 per cent under the then Datuk Seri Najib Razak administration.

After the watershed 2018 general election, the Pakatan Harapan (PH) federal government replaced it with the SST in September 2018.