THE Finance Ministry today said it was not the right time for the goods and services tax (GST) to be reimposed.

Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said this was mainly because the lower-income group was still struggling with the cost of living,

“The government has no plans to implement the GST yet, as it is a broad-based consumption tax. The government will continue to prioritise improving the existing tax system, and introducing taxes that do not affect the vulnerable,” he told the Dewan Rakyat during question time.

He said the government adopted fiscal reform, focusing on targeted subsidies and taxation, and carefully assessed any need to introduce new consumption taxes such as the GST.

“Any changes to the consumption-based taxation system, like reinstating the GST, must ensure that the tax is progressive, easy to administer, does not harm the cost of living or economic growth, and generates sustainable revenue for the government,” he added.

The GST was first implemented in Malaysia on April 1, 2015, at 6%. The tax was suspended on June 1, 2018, and finally abolished and replaced by the sales and service tax (SST) on September 1, 2018, by the Pakatan Harapan government.

Meanwhile, Amir also said the government collected RM1.29 billion in filings of undeclared taxes through the second special voluntary disclosure programme, which ended on May 31, and recovered RM512.6 million so far.

“The government received 141,406 undeclared tax disclosures, of which 102,572 were by individuals, 27,707 were by companies and the rest by associations.

“We have exceeded our target of RM1 billion from this exercise,” he noted.

He said that the government does not plan to extend the SVDP 2.0 programme, as the one-year period was sufficient for taxpayers to report income or tax liabilities for past sales or service transactions.

The Inland Revenue Board held the programme from June 6, 2023, to May 31 this year to allow the public to voluntarily declare individual, business or additional income that had not been reported before. – July 16, 2024