Finance Minister II To Be Given Time To Prepare Report On Proposed GST-SST System -- Fahmi

PUTRAJAYA,  Aug 19 (Bernama) --  Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan will be given some time to prepare a follow-up report on the government’s proposal to combine elements of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) with the Sales and Services Tax (SST), said MADANI Government spokesperson Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil.

Fahmi, who is also Communications Minister, said the report would be brought to the Cabinet for further discussion.

“This is still at an early stage, and the Ministry of Finance has been given time, as this is not something that can be done hastily and involves lessons learned from the implementation of the GST system, as well as issues faced under the current SST system.

“So these matters will be considered by the Ministry of Finance before being brought to the Cabinet for discussion and a decision,” he told a weekly post-Cabinet meeting press conference here today.

Fahmi said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had informed the Cabinet of the need for the Ministry of Finance, particularly the Finance Minister II, to conduct a comprehensive study on the proposed hybrid SST-GST taxation system.

Asked whether the Prime Minister had set a specific timeframe for the report to be completed and whether the matter would be announced in the upcoming budget presentation, Fahmi said this was not mentioned during today’s meeting.

Yesterday, Anwar was reported as saying that the government was prepared to study the proposal to combine elements of the GST with the SST to ensure a more progressive national taxation system. He said Malaysia would retain the SST as its national taxation system, but would consider incorporating certain features of the GST if they were deemed acceptable. 

-- BERNAMA