Government Ready to Study Proposal to Combine GST, SST Elements for More Progressive Tax System – PM Anwar
PUTRAJAYA: The government is ready to study the proposal to combine elements of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) with the Sales and Services Tax (SST) to ensure a more progressive national tax system, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
He, who is also Finance Minister, however said Malaysia will still retain SST as the national tax system, but will consider if there are some features (in GST) that can be accepted.
“But I do not want to compromise on one thing… I do not want a tax on the people comprehensively as per the basis of the view in GST,” he told reporters after attending the closing session of the Budget 2027 Engagement Session here today.
The Prime Minister said, he fundamentally does not agree with GST as it is a broader taxation system, with the tax imposed on the entire population.
Anwar said, through the GST taxation system, all levels of society will be affected, including groups with economic constraints.
“If we talk only about GST, what I am worried about, and I have repeatedly expressed this concern, is (this tax) wants to tax the people.
“Although some say this tax is (more) efficient, but it is a tax (on) the people, meaning those who have never paid taxes must pay. How do we answer in the current situation? With the cost of living, (it will be) a burden on the people,” said the Prime Minister.
Earlier, the Budget 2027 Engagement Session was also attended by Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan, Deputy Finance Minister Liew Chin Tong, Treasury Secretary-General Tan Sri Johan Mahmood Merican, Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Datuk Seri Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour, secretaries-general and heads of services, senior government officers, representatives from industries, associations, non-governmental organisations as well as economists and academics.
Themed “Reaching for the Sky, Rooted in the Earth”, Budget 2027 is scheduled to be tabled in Parliament on October 9.
The Sun