KUALA LUMPUR: The Customs and Excise Department is targeting to increase the goods and services tax (GST) collection by 10-13% next year, as compared to RM38 billion this year, says director-general Khazali Ahmad.
He said Customs would focus on the issue of GST delivery statement compliance as one of the measures to improve the taxation system next year and ensure the GST collection target was met.
“As of this month, about RM37 billion has been collected and the target collection of RM38 billion this year is achievable.”
He said 97% of traders were submitting their GST forms and this indicated greater awareness among them, he told reporters at the Enforcement Agencies Collaboration Seminar here today.
The event was officiated by Deputy Finance Minister Othman Aziz. The seminar had the theme “Driving Civil Service Success through Excellent Leadership, Modernisation and Cooperation of Organisations Among Implementor Agencies”.
On another matter, Khazali said the country was losing between RM1 billion and RM1.3 billion a year due to leakages in tax collection on cigarettes, liquor and vehicles on tax-free islands in the country, including Pulau Langkawi in Kedah, Pulau Tioman (Pahang) and Labuan (Sabah).
He said this was expected to be addressed through the restructuring of cigarette and liquor sales tax, as well as tax-free vehicles brought into the three islands from Nov 1.
“Local residents and tourists, as well as foreign visitors can still enjoy tax exemption on the three items, but the way we handle the tax has changed so that we really know how much cigarette and liquor are purchased on the islands,” he said.
