PETALING JAYA (Mar 24): Police have obtained a two-day remand for 25 people who had taken part in an anti-GST protest at the Customs headquarters in Kelana Jaya yesterday, said a lawyer representing them.

Thoo Suet Mei said police were planning to apply for remand orders for more people but she could not name them.

“For now, I can confirm that they have obtained a two-day remand for 25 people who took part in yesterday’s protest at the Customs office,” she said.

Yesterday, police picked up at least 80 people during the protest.

Among those picked up were Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s Sungai Siput MP Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj, PKR’s Badrul Hisham Shahrin, DAP’s Hew Kuan Yau and PAS MP Dr Hatta Ramli.

Most of them were released later.

The GST protest yesterday was jointly organised by the Parti Sosialis Malaysia and the Gabungan Bantah GST, a coalition of activists opposed to the consumption tax.

The primary objective was to get the Customs Department to answer some 100 questions on the GST.

Among the questions were will there be enforcement to ensure unscrupulous traders do not take advantage of the tax to fleece consumers and if computers for students were subjected to the GST.

The GST will replace the existing sales and services tax system in April. The broad-based 6% GST tax will be levied on almost everything except a list of essential goods.

Some of the exempted goods include fresh food, public transport, healthcare, domestic water and education fees.

Putrajaya said the GST was part of its efforts to reform the tax system, where only about 1.7 million out of 12 million workers pay income tax.

The tax burden will be spread throughout the population and will affect almost all goods and services.

In exchange, personal income taxes would be reduced from 1% to 3% depending on the tax bracket. It is estimated that about 300,000 individuals would no longer pay income tax after GST.

But surveys have found that a majority of Malaysians are against it.