KUALA LUMPUR: Companies which refuse to register for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) by March 1 will be slapped with a RM15,000 compound and forced to register for the new tax regime.
Deputy finance minister Ahmad Maslan said the move was to ensure all qualifying companies register for the GST by Feb 28 to avoid paying the fine.
He said the Royal Malaysian Customs Department and the Inland Revenue Board have identified 50,000 errant companies which have yet to register. “We will not extend the registration period as we have been tolerant and given them enough time until end-February.
“It is not fair to the 300,000 over companies which registered before the Dec 31 deadline,” he told reporters after a briefing on the GST and the 2015 Budget here today.
Ahmad Maslan said reminders have been issued to the errant companies and there was no reason for them to be defiant.
Ahmad said 315,015 companies were GST-ready so far.
Traders should not take advantage of the GST to raise prices, he said, as 56 per cent of 900 goods would see a price reduction after the GST is implemented.
“We hope the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism will continue to monitor and arrest retailers and traders who flout the law,” he said.
