A supplier just sent you an invoice with SST added to the total. You are about to pay it — and a small voice asks the obvious question: are they even registered to charge me this?
You are right to ask. Only businesses that Customs has actually registered are allowed to charge SST. If a supplier adds it without being registered, that money is not tax. It is just a bigger bill.
The good news: checking takes less than a minute, it is free, and you do not need an accountant to do it. This guide shows you exactly where to look, and — the part almost nobody explains — what the answer actually means once you get it.
01. Which SST check do you need? (30-second answer)
There are two completely different jobs hiding behind the phrase “SST check”. Pick yours and skip straight to it.
| Your situation | What you need | Where to go |
|---|---|---|
| You want to verify another company — a supplier, a vendor, a new customer | A public registration-status lookup. No login needed. | The Customs SST status search at sst01.customs.gov.my → section 03 |
| You want your own SST number or status | Your own account, or your registration certificate | The MySST portal → section 04 |
Neither of these requires payment, an agent, or software. Both are official Customs services.
Quick answer: to check whether a company is SST-registered, search its SST number or company name on the Customs status lookup. If the record comes back as registered, the business may legally charge SST. If nothing comes back, do not pay the SST line until they can show you a valid registration.
02. What an SST check actually tells you
SST — Sales and Service Tax — is administered by the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (RMCD, or Kastam), not by LHDN. Sales tax applies to certain goods; service tax applies to certain services.
The critical point for you as a buyer: SST is not something a business can simply decide to charge. A business must be registered by Customs first. Registration is what turns SST on a bill from a legitimate tax into an unauthorised charge.
So an SST check answers exactly one question:
- ✅ Registered — this business is authorised to charge SST.
- ❌ Not found — on the face of it, this business is not authorised to charge SST.
What an SST check does not tell you:
- It does not tell you whether the specific item they billed you for is taxable. A registered business can still apply SST to the wrong thing.
- It does not tell you the correct rate. Rates and taxable categories are set by Customs and do change — always confirm current details on the official portal rather than relying on any third-party page, including this one.
03. How to check another company's SST registration
This is the check most people need. It is public — you do not need an account, and the company does not know you looked.
- Go to the Customs SST status lookup — sst01.customs.gov.my.
- Choose how you want to search. You can look up by the SST registration number or by company name. If you have the number from an invoice, use it — it is far more precise than a name.
- Copy the number exactly as it is printed on the invoice or certificate. Do not retype it from memory and do not add or remove spaces or dashes. Most failed lookups are simply mistyped numbers.
- Search, and read the returned record — it will show the registered business and its registration status.
- Save what you find. Take a screenshot or note the date you checked. If the charge is ever questioned later, you want evidence of the check you did at the time.
Tip: search by the SST number first. Company-name searches fail constantly, because the name on your invoice is often a trading name, while Customs holds the registered legal name (“… Sdn Bhd”, “… Enterprise”). More on that in section 09.
04. How to find or check your own SST number
If the business being checked is yours, you have two routes:
- Your registration certificate. When Customs approves a registration, the business receives a certificate carrying its SST registration number. This is the fastest source — no login required.
- The MySST portal, mysst.customs.gov.my. Log in with the account used to register. Your registration details, number and status sit inside the account.
If you have no certificate and no working login, contact Customs directly rather than guessing a number. Putting a wrong or invented SST number on an invoice you issue is a far worse problem than not showing one at all.
Not registered yet, and unsure whether you need to be? Registration is required once a business crosses the thresholds Customs sets for its category. Rather than repeat a figure that can change, check the current threshold on the official portal — and if you need the process itself, we walk through it in how to register SST in Malaysia.
05. How to read the result — registered, not found, or expired
This is where most guides stop and most readers are still stuck. Here is what each outcome means and what to do next.
| What you see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Record found, status active | The business is registered and may charge SST. | Pay normally. Keep the invoice — it should show their SST number. |
| Nothing found | Either the number or name is wrong, or the business is not registered. | Re-check for typos, then try the other search method. Still nothing? Go to section 07. |
| Record found, but the name looks wrong | Usually a trading-name vs registered-name mismatch — not necessarily a problem. | Confirm the SST number matches the one on your invoice. The number is what counts. |
| Registration shown as ended or no longer active | They were registered, but are not now. | They should not be charging SST on a current invoice. Query it before paying. |
Takeaway: the SST number is the fact that matters. Names change, trading names differ, spellings vary — the number is what Customs actually holds.
06. SST group check — what an SST group is, and how to find yours
Service tax is not one flat category. Customs divides taxable services into groups, and a registered business is registered for the specific group or groups covering what it sells. Which group you fall into determines what you must charge tax on.
This matters in two directions:
- For your own business — you charge service tax on the services inside your registered group, not on everything you invoice.
- For a supplier — a business registered for one group is not thereby authorised to charge service tax on unrelated services.
Your own group is shown in your registration details in the MySST portal and on your registration certificate. To confirm which group a particular service belongs to, use the official industry guides published by Customs at mysst.customs.gov.my/industry-guides rather than a third-party summary — these guides are issued per service sector and are updated as the rules change.
07. What to do if a supplier charges SST but isn't registered
You have checked, nothing came back, and the invoice still has an SST line. Do this in order — calmly, because roughly half of these turn out to be admin errors, not dishonesty.
- Ask for their SST registration number in writing. A registered business will produce it without fuss. Reluctance is itself information.
- Re-run the check with the number they give you. You may simply have had the wrong one.
- If it still does not check out, ask them to reissue the invoice without the SST line. Frame it as a billing correction, not an accusation.
- Do not pay the SST portion while it is unresolved. Pay the rest of the invoice so the commercial relationship keeps moving.
- Keep the paper trail — your check, the date, and the correspondence.
❌ Do not claim the amount as tax in your own records on the strength of an invoice you could not verify.
✅ Do treat a verified, registered supplier's SST as normal, and file the invoice properly.
08. What a valid SST invoice should show
When you receive an invoice with SST on it, these are the things worth glancing at every time:
- The supplier's name and address
- The supplier's SST registration number
- The invoice date and number
- A clear description of the goods or services
- The SST amount shown separately — not silently folded into a single total
If SST is buried inside one lump sum with no number shown anywhere, that is your cue to ask questions before paying. Showing the tax separately is also what makes your own bookkeeping possible: see how to issue an invoice in Malaysia for the full breakdown.
09. Common problems when a check fails
The number is mistyped. By far the most common cause. Copy and paste rather than retype.
You searched a trading name. “Kedai Kopi Ah Meng” may be registered as “AM Beverages Sdn Bhd”. Search by number instead.
The registration is very new. A freshly approved registration may not appear immediately. If the supplier can show a recent certificate, that is reasonable evidence — verify again in a few days.
You are checking the wrong tax entirely. An SST registration number is not a business registration (SSM) number and not a tax identification number. They look similar and are not interchangeable.
You are trying to check a tariff code. Tariff-code lookups classify goods, which is a different job from verifying a registration. If that is what you need, you are on the wrong search.
10. Keeping SST right on every invoice
Checking a supplier is the easy half. The harder half is making sure the SST on invoices you issue is correct, consistent, and still there when you need to report it.
That is bookkeeping, not tax advice — and it is the part software should simply handle. Niagawan applies SST on the invoices you issue, keeps the tax shown separately where it belongs, and keeps the figures ready for reporting instead of leaving you to rebuild them from a folder of PDFs. It is e-Invoice ready and LHDN compliant, with SST and zakat reporting built in. More than 40,000 Malaysian businesses have used Niagawan since 2016.
If SST currently means a spreadsheet and a lot of double-checking, see how Niagawan handles it — or work out an SST amount right now with our SST calculator.
This guide explains how to use the official Customs lookup services. It is general information, not tax advice. SST rules, rates and thresholds are set by the Royal Malaysian Customs Department — always confirm current details at mysst.customs.gov.my.
Bryant Gan is the Founder of Niagawan — the cloud accounting and POS system used by more than 40,000 businesses in Malaysia since 2016. He has spent over 10 years building software that helps Malaysian SMEs keep their books, stock, and tax records in order.
SST check FAQ
How do I check a company's SST number in Malaysia?
Search the SST registration number, or the company name, on the Customs status lookup at sst01.customs.gov.my. It is free and needs no login. Searching by the number is more reliable than by name, because the name on an invoice is often a trading name rather than the registered legal name.
Can I check someone else's SST registration?
Yes. Registration status is public information, and checking a supplier before paying SST is normal commercial practice. The business is not notified that you looked.
How do I find my own SST number?
It is on your SST registration certificate, and in your account on the MySST portal at mysst.customs.gov.my. If you have neither, contact Customs rather than guessing a number — a wrong SST number on an invoice you issue is worse than none.
What if a supplier charges SST but is not registered?
Ask for their registration number in writing, re-check it, and ask for a corrected invoice if it still does not verify. Do not pay the SST portion until it is resolved, and do not claim it as tax in your own records. Pay the rest of the invoice as normal.
Is an SST number the same as an SSM number?
No. SSM registration records the company itself; SST registration authorises it to charge sales or service tax. Different registers, different numbers, and they are not interchangeable.
How do I know which SST group I am in?
Your registered group appears on your registration certificate and in your MySST account details. To confirm which group a particular service falls under, use the official Customs industry guides at mysst.customs.gov.my/industry-guides.
Does an SST check tell me the right rate to charge?
No. A check confirms that a business is registered, nothing more. Rates, taxable goods and prescribed services are set by the Royal Malaysian Customs Department and published on the MySST portal. If you need the arithmetic once you know your rate, use our SST calculator.