Public acceptance of GST much more positive in Malaysia: Customs

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GEORGE TOWN: Public acceptance towards the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is much better with less complaints received on the implementation of the new tax regime.
Customs Department Deputy Director-General (Customs and GST) Datuk Subromaniam Tholasy said people in the country are beginning to accept and understand the GST, which was introduced on April 1.
“After more than seven months since we implemented GST, we have seen a better acceptance from the people. Actually, the public finally understands how the GST works as we can see there are not many complaints received.
“In fact, I still remember on the first day of its implementation, if I am not mistaken, there were more than 800 complaints received but now we receive almost none… people are beginning to understand,” he told reporters after opening the Property and Construction GST seminar ) organised by Penang Customs’ senior officers here today.
He said consumers also should understand that GST had saved the country’s economy as the GST model in Malaysia was not a burden to the lower-income groups.
“Our GST model is slightly different than the one implemented in other countries. The people who pay higher taxes are those who spend more or rich people.
“So the consumers who spend more will contribute more to the GST than low-income consumers, revenue from the tax can returned to the less fortunate people. This is why our model is the best because it s in its own mould,” he said.
Subromaniam said at the same time, the department also monitored and improved enforcement against traders who failed to comply with the stipulated rules and laws provided on the GST implementation.
Commenting on the GST collection, he said in the first nine months of this year, the department had targetted to collect a total of RM27 billion, while RM39 billion is expected to be collected next year.
“Imagine if there was no GST implemented, we are not able to collect this much. We only managed to collect between RM16 billion and RM17 billion from the SST (Sales and Services Tax). This helps the country’s economy by making our exports more competitive,” he said.
Subromaniam said the seminar series will be continued to companies and agencies which had registered in effort to provide a thorough understanding on the implementation of GST.