KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 — The government will only implement the Goods and Services Tax (GST) if minimum wage rises to between RM3,000 and RM4,000, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Currently, the minimum wage in Malaysia is RM1,500.
Acknowledging the tax system as efficient and transparent, Anwar said the GST will expand the government’s coffers with higher revenue collection.
However, he believes the poor should not be burdened with such a system.
“I agree, GST is the most transparent and efficient tax system… but my view is, give it some time, some years, (we must) make sure the income threshold increases to the minimum of RM3,000 to RM4,000, then we can adjust the policy,” he said at the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry’s annual general meeting here today.
Anwar, who is also finance minister, said the GST has been an ongoing issue for decades, even during his time as Finance Minister in the 1990s.
He disagreed at that time, believing that addressing corruption involving billions of ringgit should be a priority.
Meanwhile, Deputy Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Liew Chin Tong, who was also at the event, echoed the Prime Minister’s view that the GST is transparent, yet it would tax everyone, rich and poor.
“He (Anwar) made it clear that GST is only going to be implemented after a few years when income rises to an acceptable level,” he said.
Currently, only around 15 per cent of Malaysians earn enough to qualify them for the threshold to pay income tax, said Liew.
“Together, we should aim to create a society in which at least 60 per cent of Malaysians earn an income that qualifies them to pay income taxes,” he said in a statement.
Guided by the Prime Minister’s Madani spirit, Liew hopes all sections of the society, businesses included, see the creation of a Malaysian middle-class society as a national mission.
— Bernama
