KUALA LUMPUR: A week before the goods and services tax goes into effect, Parti Socialist Malaysia officials and activists are staging a sit-in at the main tax office in the Klang Valley today to get answers to some 100 questions on the controversial consumption tax.
Among the questions they seek from the Customs Department are will there be enforcement to ensure unscrupulous traders do not take advantage of the tax to fleece consumers and if computers for students are subjected to GST.
“Today is one week before GST takes off. We are going to stay put until we get satisfactory answers to all our queries,” PSM secretary-general S. Arutchelvan told The Malaysian Insider about the sit-in, which is slated to start in the afternoon at the Customs Department office in Petaling Jaya.
“If the Customs Department fail to answer our questions, then it proves that they are not ready for GST and that its implementation should either be postponed or stopped.”
The protest is being organised under the Gambungan Bantah GST.
Others joining in today are PAS Youth as well as youth-based NGOs like Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM), Gabungan Mahasiswa Islam Se-Malaysia (GAMIS), Lensa Anak Muda Malaysia (Lensa) and Angkatan Pemuda Bangsa Malaysia.
National laureate A. Samad Said and PSM Sungai Siput federal lawmaker Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj will also take part in the protest.
Arutchelvan said feedback from the people indicated that Malaysia was not ready for GST.
He said Malaysians have complained about the upcoming consumption tax, which will be burdensome in light of increasing cost of living due to the weakening ringgit and a plunge in global fuel prices.
Despite PAS-led Kelantan’s move to implement hudud which had hogged the limelight in recent days, Arutchelvan said the biggest concern of the people, especially those from the lower-income group, was bread-and-butter issues such as the impact of GST.
“This is our last effort to bring to attention that the government is not ready for GST,” he added.
Gabungan Bantah GST had previously launched an online petition to protest against GST, expressing worries that it will lead to inflation and skyrocketing of prices of goods and services.
Instead of looking to increase the tax base, the petition said Putrajaya should find ways to curb excessive spending and wastage.
The GST will replace the existing sales and services tax system. The broad-based 6% GST tax will be levied on almost everything except a list of essential goods in April.
Some of the goods exempted from GST include fresh food, public transport, healthcare, domestic water and education fees.
Putrajaya has said GST was part of its efforts to reform the tax system, where only about 1.7 million out of 12 million workers pay income tax.
The tax burden will be spread throughout the population and will affect almost all goods and services.
In exchange, personal income taxes would be reduced from 1% to 3% depending on the tax bracket. It is estimated that about 300,000 individuals would no longer pay income tax after GST.
However, surveys have found that a majority of Malaysians are against the consumption tax.
Former long-serving prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had advised the public to tell the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) that it may not be re-elected again if more taxes were imposed.
Referring to the GST, the statesman said that if the rise in cost of medicines was burdensome to the people, they should let Putrajaya know.
“It is for the people to respond. If this is a burden for them, they can tell the government, ‘Please don’t add any more taxes? If you charge taxes, we will not vote for you any more,” he had said.
The Customs office is closed today because of the protest and riot police have been deployed at the premises.
