Thursday 28 Mar 2024
By
main news image

(July 24): Putrajaya must state what will happen if authorities are slow in refunding business for input tax paid under the goods and service tax (GST) scheme, the Penang government said.

While the law on GST, which was implemented in April, penalises companies if they failed to remit GST collected on time, it was not clear what is to happen to the government agency responsible if it was late in refunding the companies their input tax, chief minister Lim Guan Eng said.

"The government had previously promised that the refunds would be settled in two weeks. Today in a news report, deputy finance minister Datuk Chua Tee Yong was quoted as saying that the Customs Department has refunded 64% or RM1.12 billion.

"Out of that amount, RM994 million had been released to the businesses. Another RM108 million has been approved and will released this week," he said, quoting a Sin Chew report in a press conference at his Komtar office today.

"If the refunds are not made according to the deadline, will the Finance Ministry also pay fine or face some penalty? Companies that don't pay GST by the deadline face fine and jail," Lim said at a press conference today.

Lim said the release of the refunds were months late, since GST was implemented beginning April 1.

"After after failing to meet the two-week deadline, is no taken on the authorities? This is double standard and unfair to businesses.

"The delay can worsen the economy and make things difficult for businesses, causing cash flow problems for the companies, considering the interests they also have to pay."

Lim, who is also DAP secretary-general, said the delay in refunds for over two months was giving the people an impression that the government was not managing things well.

"How do you make people confident when they are wondering whether the government has the money?"

The opposition has been against the implementation of the 6% consumption tax, blaming it for making the cost of living higher when the economy was already under strain.

Lim said smaller businesses and traders have been badly hit by GST, citing news reports that Hari Raya sales this year had dropped some 50% for traders at the popular Chowrasta Bazaar in George Town.

"The traders are citing the GST as the cause of their drop in business," he said, quoting a recent report in Mingguan Malaysia.

He also said some multinational companies in Penang had informed him that some of their suppliers had to close shop because they could not deal with GST.

"GST is taking its toll on businesses because they have to fork out the money for the tax first before claiming it back." – The Malaysian Insider

      Print
      Text Size
      Share