IRB: GST to help boost government coffers

Published: Friday November 1, 2013 MYT 12:00:00 AM 

Updated: Friday November 1, 2013 MYT 11:48:02 AM

BY RAHIMY RAHIM

KUALA LUMPUR: The Govern­­ment will see a broader tax base that will result in more revenue following the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), says Inland Revenue Board (IRB) chief executive officer Tan Sri Dr Mohd Shukor Mahfar.

“If we analyse it, once the Government has imposed the GST, individual and corporate taxes will be lowered to reduce the impact on people. But it does not necessarily mean that the Government’s revenue will be reduced,” he said.

“More people will pay as they do not see it as a burden,” he said at a press conference after launching the 31st National Tax Seminar 2013 at the Putra World Trade Centre here yesterday.

In Budget 2014, the Prime Minister announced that a GST of 6% would be introduced on April 1, 2015.

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who is also Finance Minister, said the GST rate would be among the lowest in Asean countries, with Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines and Laos capping theirs at 10%, and Singapore at 7%.

Shukor also expressed confidence that the IRB would achieve its tax collection target.

“We collected RM109bil in 2011, RM125bil last year and we were told to collect RM130bil this year,” he said.

“We are confident as our domestic economy is still strong despite the uncertain global economy,” he said.

Shukor noted that the Government had put in place various measures to ease the burden of the people, which included the Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M) cash assistance.

“BR1M is not for political purposes, but purely for economic reasons to help the targeted group,” he said.

“Other countries have also put in place such mechanisms, including South Korea and Australia.”

At the seminar, the IRB will be updating practitioners on changes to the calculation of income tax as well as the latest tax exemptions as highlighted in Budget 2014.

“In total, there are 31 amendments to the Income Tax Act 1967, seven to the Petroleum (Income Tax) Act 1967, two amendments to the Labuan Business Activity Tax Act 1990, three to the Stamp Duty Act 1969, as well as the Real Property Gains Tax,” said Shukor.