`Malaysians starting to understand GST concept'

Posted on 20 April 2014 - 08:13pm

Last updated on 20 April 2014 - 10:14pm

Haikal Jalil

newdesk@thesundaily.com

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians are slowly getting a grip of what the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is all about due to the aggressive on the ground campaign by the government, said Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Hasan Malek.

He said there was a need for Malaysians to have a better understanding of the GST before it comes into force on April 1, 2015.

However, he added, the implementation of the GST depended on the government's decision including taking into account the economic stability of the country.

The GST will replace the Sales Tax and Services Tax and is an efficient taxation system needed to be implemented for the country to remain competitive. More than 160 countries around the world had implemented GST.

Hasan, who was speaking to reporters after officiating the Kuala Lumpur Setia Cooperative today, said people need not worry that the GST would be a burden as the 6% imposed was the lowest among the Asean countries. Malaysia was one of the last countries in the region to implement it.

Meanwhile in a Bernama report, Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan said the government had intensified its drive to educate the public on the implementation of the GST by training 330 facilitators on the subject.

He said each speaker would conduct four briefings in four separate locations within each constituency.

"The facilitators will be equipped with relevant materials such as documents and pen drives with graphs and information for multimedia presentations so that people can understand it easily.

"Each constituency will be allocated RM10,000 by the finance ministry as each session will cost RM2,500," he told reporters after a GST briefing at the Temerloh Umno branch here today.

"The GST briefings will start this week and be completed in two months. We will set another date for Sabah and Sarawak," he said, adding that the public's understanding of the matter was still poor at below 50%.