CHONG Chieng Jen (DAP-Kota Sentosa) has been taken to task for claiming the palm oil industry is paying taxes twice following the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Land Development Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Jemut Masing, in rebutting Chong’s claim, said he was not really sure what Chong meant.
“It is correct to say the government is imposing the SST (Sales and Service Tax). It is also correct to say the government is imposing GST on the palm oil industry. But I must stress that the GST imposed on the plantation, the millers and refiners are claimable from the government.
“Because the GST is claimable, it is therefore neither a cost nor an additional burden to the industry. Thus, it is wrong for Chong to say or imply that the industry is paying taxes twice with the introduction of the GST.
“Obviously, Chong has been misinformed,” Masing said in his winding-up speech yesterday.
He was then interjected by Chong, who argued that although GST was claimable, the cost would be passed on to the users as they would be paying for GST and SST on the prices of the products.
In his response, Masing said while he could only answer to what happened in the oil palm industry, he could understand that “in between paying for GST and the claiming back process, there is a gap in between that might affect the (businesses) cash flow”.
“I’m not aware of that. I will have to look into that. Certainly, I will take the matter seriously and find out how best we can solve the problem.”
On an issue raised by Violet Yong (DAP-Pending), who alleged that oil palm companies were engaging illegal workers from Indonesia to work in their plantations, Masing said: “We cannot totally discount the fact that there are people from the neighbouring country without valid travel documents working in our plantations, especially those located close to the border with Kalimantan.
“Because of the proximity of their villages to these plantations, they can easily commute to and fro to work in the plantations. In view of the shortage of workers, the plantation companies cannot help but take advantage of this available labour supply.”
In order to address this problem, Masing said ways would be worked out to regularise the entry of these illegal workers so that their number and movement can be monitored.
“We will explore the measures being taken by other states in the peninsula to resolve this problem.”