Retailers must start preparing now for the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to avoid last-minute chaos and business disruption, says Malaysian Retailer-Chains Association President Datuk Nelson Kwok.
He said Malaysians were known to wait until the last minute and this would inevitably cause confusion when the GST takes effect on April 1, 2015.
"Retailers are bound to face challenges and teething problems in the early adoption stage of the exercise," he said during a briefing on the impact of the GST on retail businesses in Kuala Lumpur today.
The briefing was organised by MRCA together with Retail Group Malaysia and Goldsoft, a retail software provider, to discuss issues faced by retail-chain businesses in the implementation of the GST.
"Retailers may need more than six months to prepare for the implementation as such they should start now. The systems need to be in place to lower the risk of errors in tax declaration and reduce compliance costs due to penalty," he added.
Meanwhile, Goldsoft executive director Alex Lim said the implementation of a proper processing system goes beyond simplistic understanding of GST, especially for medium to big-sized retailers.
He said among the challenges in the implementation of the processing system was staff training, inventory classification, customer/supplier GST registration details, running simulation and software implementation time frame which might take more than six months.
The Customs Department had already identified 50 vendors for GST accounting software and the government had also allocated subsidies for small-and-medium businesses to purchase related software. – Bernama, March 13, 2014.
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