GST Digital Media Sweep (24/03/14): Najib Razak, Prime Minister and Finance Minister said, “A total of 4,967 awareness programmes and training sessions were carried out by the Finance Ministry from 2010 to February this year on the implementation of the GST.” He added, “for the traders, who comprise the critical group in the implementation of the GST, the government is carrying out briefing and training undertaken by the government, the private sector or jointly.” Ibrahim Abdul Rahman, Information Director-General said, “The implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is expected to be well-accepted by the overall public following the various programmes to explain the need to implement the GST held across the country.” He added, “We have less than a year before the GST is implemented in April 2015. With the various programmes we held, whether in urban and rural areas, to explain to the people about the GST so far, I believe that by the time we implement it, the issue of public understanding will be solved.” Meanwhile, the Royal Malaysian Customs said that the online registration system for business is now ready. Rohana Ahmad, Senior Assistant Director of Customs 1 explained, “the registration would be open from January 2015, three months before implementation of the GST tax on April 1.” That aside, she warned, “companies that qualify to register for the GST will be charged a penalty if they failed to register with the Royal Customs Department by Jan 1, 2015, at the latest.” Shah Alam MP, Khalid Samad commented that the government spent RM365 million of the Rakyat’s money to educate people about the GST. However, the awareness initiatives held were confusing. Hence, the money spent is actually a burden to the people. Lastly, Anil Netto, honorary treasurer of Aliran opined that people are already struggling to put foods on the table and GST will make things worse. “As the government introduces a regressive taxation system, (GST), available disposable income in many households will shrink even further, adding to the burden of the lower-income group,” he added.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 23:10:43 +0000
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