'Halal' GST will not burden rakyat, says Najib

KUALA LUMPUR: The newly-implemented Goods and Services Tax (GST) is approved "halal" and will not burden the rakyat.
In his opening speech at the World Halal Summit 2015 today, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak said extensive studies were made before the government decided to introduce the new tax regime.
"I suppose we could argue that as it (GST) coincides with the halal gathering that we have here today, it makes GST halal as well," Najib jokingly said in his keynote address, much to the amusement of more than 1,000 participants at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre here.
"But in fact it is as the National Fatwa Council that GST has said it is in fact halal," he added.
Several quarters had previously claimed that GST implementation was unIslamic and therefore considered as not halal.
Najib said GST implementation in Malaysia was designed as a "package" so as not to burden the rakyat.
This can be seen in the reduction of personal income tax by 1% to 3% for year of assessment 2015, reduction of 1% in corporate tax, as well as the increase of BR1M for the lower income group, he said.
Najib also said the Malaysian version of GST is arguably the most complex and multi-layered in the world as it exempts many goods and services.
"This is because more than 4,000 goods were exempted and zero-rated in the new tax.
"We have done it this way because we want a soft landing for people to accept and embrace GST," he said.
Najib said GST would also benefit the halal traders as the tax will not be applied on exported goods and services.
"Malaysian firms would benefit from a lower cost of doing business by recovering any input taxes," he said.
Meanwhile, Najib said as Malaysia chairs the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), the country is keen to encourage the promotion and development of the halal industry in the region.
"With the establishment of the Asean Economic Community by the end of the year, there is no reason why Asean should not become a major halal trading hub serving both home markets and those around the globe," he said.