Lim echoes Dr M: Need public support to revive GST
PUTRAJAYA: Echoing his boss’ words, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the government would only bring back Goods and Services Tax (GST) if there is incontrovertible evidence that the public wants it back.
Speaking to reporters today, Lim said that Pakatan Harapan won the general election because they promised to abolish GST, and the government would respect the wishes of the rakyat.
“We stood on the last election with the promise of abolishing GST and we have delivered on that matter.
“So, if the people want to revive the GST, like Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said, we will consider it. But there is a need for a clear mandate from the people,” he said.
Yesterday, the premier said that the government would revive the GST if the public wants it, adding that a study needs to be conducted on whether if the tax regime is better than the existing Sales and Services Tax.
The GST was introduced in April 2015 at six per cent before it was abolished and replaced with the SST on Sept 1, 2018, several months after the Pakatan wrested power from Barisan Nasional (BN) in the last general election.
Asked whether the government would bring back the GST after getting public support, Lim said the decision would be made by the Pakatan Harapan presidential council.
The Bagan MP said that abolishing GST had helped manage inflation in the country, claiming that Malaysia has one of the lowest inflation rates in the world at 1.5%.
“If we allow the 6% GST to come back, you will see inflation going up,” claimed Lim.
On the shortfall of GST, Lim said it was used to pay back the refund which was held back by the previous government.
“Once that is settled, we will manage to keep things within our finances, that is the balance between increasing the government revenue or lower inflation cost,” he said.
On how the government planned to increase its revenue, Lim said the RM44 billion obtained through GST was the gross collection and that amount included the refund which was never paid back.
He said the net figure for GST collection was around RM33 to RM34 billion.