KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government has collected RM1.56 billion in sales tax on petroleum products since it began imposing the five per cent tax in April 2020, the state legislative assembly was told today.
State Assistant Finance Minister Jasni Daya said it had initially expected to collect RM1.25 billion for 2021.
âFollowing the increase in the commodityâs price, the estimate has been revised to RM1.4 billion,â he said in response to a question from Phoong Jin Zhe (DAP-Luyang) who sought details on the petroleum product sales tax collection.
Meanwhile, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Hajiji Noor, replying to a supplementary question from Phoong on why allocations for ministries were reduced despite the high amount of sales tax collected, said the suggestions for the size of allocations to be approved came from the ministries.
âIf we study these proposals, the amount (requested) is actually beyond the state governmentâs means or the revenue that we are collecting. However, discussions and meetings were held several times at the Finance Ministryâs level to assess the allocation requirements according to ministry. This has been the practice for a long time.
âWe realise the need for as high an allocation as possible to meet the peopleâs needs, but we should do it prudently based on the governmentâs financial ability,â he added. â Bernama
