KUALA LUMPUR: The government will only implement the Goods and Services Tax (GST) if the minimum wage threshold is at RM3,000-RM4,000, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Currently, the minimum monthly wage in Malaysia is RM1,500.
Acknowledging the tax system as efficient and transparent, Anwar said the GST would also help to expand the government’s coffers with higher revenue collection.
However, he believes that the poor should not be burdened with such a tax 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 that the wage threshold increases to the minimum of RM3,000-RM4,000, then we can adjust the policy,” he said at the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry’s (ACCCIM) 78th Annual General Meeting here today.
Anwar, who is also the Finance Minister, said the GST implementation 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 Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI), Liew Chin Tong, who was also at the event, echoed the Prime Minister’s view that the GST is transparent, yet it is taxing everyone, rich and poor.
“He (Prime Minister) made it clear that GST is only going to be implemented after a few years when the income level 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 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.
