Miros Asking For Import And GST Exemptions For Cheaper Child Car Seats

To make child seats more affordable for parents, the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) intends to propose an exemption from import tax duty in addition to a waiver of Goods and Services Tax (GST) for that product classification.

Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, chairman of Miros, says the proposal will be forwarded to the National Road Safety Council once it is finalised. Hopefully this will encourage more parents to purchase and install car seats, writes The Sun. 

“Among the challenges for parents to purchase is always the affordability issue. If it’s true that car seats are being imposed import tax duty up to 30% in view of the GST, we need to look into this,” said Lee. 

He added that since nearly all child seats are imported into Malaysia, something must be done to reduce the price on the market to ensure they are made as accessible as possible to the average motorist. 

Miros director-general Prof Wong Shaw Voon, meanwhile, says that a star rating system for child seats is being discussed to be used measure the quality of child seats that are sold in our local market to make the buying process more streamlined. 

"This might be the same as what Asean NCAP is applying with new car. But this matter still requires an in-depth study and we have to work out on the mechanism before we can start providing a rating system for this purpose," he said.