Educating traders on GST

Athi Shankar | February 17, 2014

Customs officials will speak at a seminar on how the tax will work.

GEORGE TOWN: Many businessmen have yet to gain an adequate understanding of how the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will work, according to the Malaysian Association of Company Secretaries (MACS).

“They are still unaware of how GST will affect their business,” said Tan Yen Woo, who sits in one of the various committees in MACS.

They had not been well informed about the benefits of the tax and the procedures involved in implementing it, he added.

To address that knowledge gap, MACS will hold a day-long seminar this March 4 at the Customs Complex in Seberang Jaya.

MACS’s representative in Penang, Agnes Shizue Ooi, told newsmen today that the seminar would “fully inform” the public on GST.

The seminar is aimed at businessmen involved in the services, trading, engineering and manufacturing industries, but is open to anyone interested in learning about GST.

The panel of speakers will be made up of customs officials.

Seminar fees are RM180 for MACS members and RM250 for non-members.

Tan said politicians had confused the public about GST with their varied comments about it.

As a result, he added, many people were not aware that the tax would bring benefits to businesses as well as the consuming public.

For instance, he said, consumers would have their tax burden reduced because they would no longer have to pay the current 10% sales tax.

GST will come into force on April 1 next year.

Those interested in attending the seminar can contact Agnes at 0124885168 or go to the MACS website for further information.