Ballooning cost to implement GST a cause for concern, says Rafizi

BY ELIZABETH ZACHARIAH

JANUARY 08, 2014

Rafizi Ramli speaks to the reporters during a press conference at
PKR headquarters in Petaling Jaya today. – The Malaysian Insider pic by
Nazir Sufari, December 8, 2013.

Putrajaya has spent RM200 million to implement the Goods and Services Tax (GST), and the cost is expected to balloon to more than RM1 billion before it comes into effect April next year, said PKR lawmaker Rafizi Ramli (pic) today.

He said the government has spent RM100 million just to develop special software called MyGST for its implementation.

"With that money, you can actually just buy a whole software company," he said at a press conference at the PKR headquarters in Petaling Jaya.

"They will then push this system down the throats of small traders. They expect at least 300,000 businesses to buy this system.”

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax when tabling Budget 2014 in Parliament last October.

The new tax, fixed at 6%, will be effective April 1, 2015. – January 8, 2014.