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KUALA LUMPUR: The government is looking for alternatives to a wealth tax, including a goods and services tax (GST), to raise funds for its coffers, says Deputy Finance Minister II Mohd Shahar Abdullah.
“On a wealth tax, the government has no intention of implementing it at this time,” he said while replying to Wong Shu Qui (PH-Kluang) in the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday (December 10).
Shahar said the government is studying the feasibility of reintroducing the GST and other consumer-based tax models after taking all aspects into consideration.
“This includes the weaknesses in the current sales and service tax (SST) and the GST that was implemented in 2015.
“The study will also cover the effects on the economy, the cost of living and the cost of goods, including the black economy,” he added.
He also promised that any new tax model that is implemented will be easy to manage and will not increase the cost of doing business, while strengthening the nation’s fiscal position, adding that it would not make sense to increase government coffers through a model. tributary that will overwhelm the rakyat.
He also said that at this time, the government is focusing on improving governance and has established a multi-agency task force to better manage the nation’s finances.
Shahar also noted that although the nation’s gross domestic product contracted 17% in the second quarter of this year, there are positive indicators that the economy will recover and grow between 5.5% and 6% in 2021.
Wong had previously asked whether a wealth tax or GST would be reintroduced to increase government revenue.
He said that Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz had recently met with bankers and publicly stated that a committee had been formed to seek ways to increase government revenue and would introduce a new fiscal model when the economy recovers.
A 6% GST was implemented on April 1, 2015, but was abolished by Pakatan Harapan in 2018, which reintroduced the sales and service tax (SST) on September 1 of the same year.
Muar Syed Saddiq MP Syed Abdul Rahman had recently proposed that the government introduce a “windfall tax” on companies that made windfall profits during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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