No GST for now, govt to only implement tax not affecting the vulnerables

by SHAUQI WAHAB / pic TMR FILE

THE government is not planning to implement a new broad-based tax to Malaysian citizens including the Goods and Services Tax (GST) for now, said Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan.

Instead, he said the government will guarantee they will only introduce taxes that do not affect the vulnerable, in addition to improving the existing taxation system.

“The government has not planned to implement GST yet because it is a broad-based consumption tax and it is not the right time to reintroduce it.

“Any fundamental change to the taxation system such as the implementation of GST needs to be scrutinised to ensure that it is progressive, easy to administer, does not have a negative impact on the cost of living and economic growth and can generate sustainable results for the government,” he said during the Minister’s Question Time session at Dewan Rakyat, today.

He was responding to an additional question from Datuk Mohd Suhaimi Abdullah (PN-Langkawi) whether GST will be reintroduced because the revenue collected is greater.

Suhaimi stated that GST collections from April 2015 until its discontinuation in May 2018 totalled RM184 billion, whereas SST collections from September 2018 to September 2023 amounted to RM150.4 billion, indicating a decrease compared to GST.

At the same time, Amir Hamzah said, the government does not intend to extend the Voluntary Confession Special Program (PKPS) 2.0 which started on June 6, 2023 to May 31 last for a longer period.

He said that throughout the implementation period of PKPS 2.0, the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) approved 141,406 voluntary confession applications involving 102,572 individual taxpayer cases.

“Apart from that, it also involves 27,707 number of company cases and the rest in other categories such as organisations. This amount involves a reported tax assessment of RM1.29 billion.

“The amount of assessments raised was found to exceed the initial target of RM1 billion. Of the total assessments, RM512.6 million was successfully collected,” he said.