Postponing GST would hurt economy — Chua

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KUALA LUMPUR: Further postponement of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) would hurt the economy more, said Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Chua Tee Yong.

“It would create more uncertainty as some businesses have already started preparing for the GST and the government is also geared for the GST implementation to replace the current Sales and Services Tax (SST),” he said.

Chua added that the current SST regime is not suitable for the Asean economy that we are moving to.

He was responding to a suggestion by former Finance Minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah that the government consider postponing the implementation of the GST to a time when the economy is more stable and on a more solid footing.

Chua explained that under the SST there is no input tax credit and our exports may not be as competitive because other Asean countries have implemented the GST and all their exports are zero-rated.

“One of the main reasons for the GST implementation is to reduce the tax gap, so that the tax system is more efficient.

“There is no such thing as the best time or the wrong time as the policies need to be consistent, communicated and carried out,” he told reporters at the Tunku Abdul Rahman (TAR) University College accreditation from the Board of Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents Malaysia (BOVAEA) yesterday.

BOVAEA was set up in 1981 under the purview of the Finance Ministry with the primary function of regulating the valuers, appraisers and estate agents practising in Malaysia.

The two accredited programmes were the Bachelor of Estate Management (Honours) and Diploma in Technology (Property Management). — Bernama