PUTRAJAYA: Recipients of Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARa) can shop for essential items at 600 participating supermarkets, grocery shops and retail outlets starting today.
In announcing this, Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan said among the parties involved in the cashless aid programme worth RM600 for the hardcore poor are Mydin Hypermarket, 99Speedmart, Giant hypermarkets, Lotus’s and Econsave.
The full list is available on the Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) website at bantuantunai.hasil.gov.my.
“Recipients need only bring their MyKad to purchase their groceries. They are also allowed to make transactions at different outlets if the essential items they need are not in stock.
“There is a tracking system to display the balance they have, based on their MyKad. If there is any balance remaining, the amount will be carried forward to the next month,” he said after launching the Custom Department’s Handholding, Indirect Tax and Voluntary Disclosure (VDP) programme here yesterday.
The RM600 aid will be distributed monthly for six months from July to December for recipients in the peninsula while for Sabah and Sarawak as well Labuan recipients, the aid will be credited into their Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) accounts in a lump sum.
For peninsula recipients, the aid will be channelled automatically via the MyKad used to open up an account at the selected outlets.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced that more than 210,000 recipients of STR will receive RM600 cash aid under SARa to purchase essential items.
He added that the government had allocated RM130mil under the Payung Rahmah initiative to help the underprivileged grappling with the high cost of living.
The aid programme will be implemented from today for recipients in Terengganu, Kelantan, Kedah, Penang, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Negri Sembilan.
Recipients in Johor, Melaka, Perak, Pahang and Perlis are expected to start receiving their SARa aid from July 31 while those in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan will start receiving theirs from Aug 7.
Meanwhile, Ahmad said the Handholding VDP programme under the Customs Department collected a total of RM5.57mil in indirect taxes from June 6 to July 15. The programme began on June 1.
He said the initiative, being rolled out for the second time, is aimed at increasing voluntary taxpayer compliance.
“For this year, we are targeting 2,000 applications with an estimated RM200mil in tax collection,” he added.
In the Special Voluntary Disclosure programme (SVDP) held last year, there were 16,880 applications involving RM700mil in taxes.
The initiative also offers zero penalty fees, no compound fines, and no audit penalty for voluntary applications from individuals and companies.
