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KUALA LUMPUR: The government is studying the feasibility of re-implementing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) or other models of excise taxes.
Vice Minister of Finance II Mohd Shahar Abdullah (pix) said that the government will take into account several aspects, among them the weaknesses in the Sales and Services Tax (SST) that is in force, as well as those of the GST that was implemented in 2015.
He said the study will include the impacts on the economy, the cost of living, the impact of taxes on the price of goods, as well as the ability to address the activities of the shadow economy.
“The new tax should be easy to administer and not increase business costs, as well as strengthen the fiscal position of the country,” he said during the oral question-and-answer session at today’s Dewan Rakyat.
Mohd Shahar said this in response to a question from Wong Shu Qi (DAP-Kluang) on whether the Perikatan Nasional government would re-implement the GST or the wealth tax to increase government revenue.
As for the wealth tax, he said the government has no plans to implement it at the moment, noting that the government will not implement any new tax measures if it is going to be a burden on the people.
“We will analyze other methods mentioned by the Minister of Finance during the presentation of the 2021 Budget, strengthening tax compliance and empowering the multi-agency working group.
“If we create a new tax, it will only increase revenue, but if it is going to be a burden on people, it will not be effective,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mohd Shahar said that in terms of the nation’s economic recovery, the government remains optimistic of gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 5.5 to 6.5 percent in 2021.
“GDP contracted 17.1 percent in the second quarter of this year but improved to -2.7 percent in the third quarter, this is the impact of the implementation of the stimulus (packages),” he said.
The economic stimulus packages were Prihatin, Prihatin PKS +, Penjana and Kita Prihatin, totaling RM305 billion.
“Together, we must ensure that the country’s economic situation improves with the approval of the 2021 Budget, because this is the fifth step before launching the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) in January 2021,” he added. – Called
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