KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 3): All crustaceans and molluscs will be exempted from the 10% sales tax, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said today.

Crustaceans include crabs, crayfish, lobsters, prawns and shrimps, while molluscs include clams, mussels, oysters, scallops and squids.

Lim said the decision was made to ensure the mid- and low-income groups are not burdened by the tax regime when consuming such common seafood.

"The list [on the guide on sales tax on various goods] is a dynamic and organic list.

"We will take time to get public feedback and look into the implications [from amending the list], hopefully we can [finalise the SST list] by the end of the year," Lim told a press conference.

There has been public backlash over the implementation of SST, which started on Sept 1, after retailers imposed sales tax on certain daily food items.

In the case of crustaceans and molluscs, the SST was initially imposed because the government wanted to tax luxury food items like lobsters and oysters which fall in the same product category.

Hence, the exemption will also take effect on luxury food products in the same categories for the moment, said Lim.

"It is a challenge [to specify taxable products] but we believe the impact from this exemption [towards government's tax collection] will not be huge," he said.

"We need to do a major exercise [to restructure the list of taxable items]. We will see if we can do it (tax luxury food items) in the future [without burdening the mid- and low-income groups," he added.

At the same press conference, the Customs Department apologised for "overlooking" salted fish from being SST-exempt, and said sales tax on the product is to be lifted immediately.