KUALA LUMPUR: Former second finance minister Johari Ghani says countries cannot simply change tax policies without providing sufficient notice to the people.

While acknowledging the need to reintroduce the goods and services tax (GST), Johari said a sudden change “from GST to sales and service tax (SST) and then back to GST” without giving people time to prepare would not be advisable.

“I would expect that we would tell the people (in advance) that we’re going to introduce GST 2025, for example,” he said during a Q&A session at the 2023 Youth Economic Forum at Sasana Kijang, here, today.

“So that the people can be prepared because we must remember that every time we introduce a new system, there’s a one-off spike into inflation.”

The Titiwangsa MP added that Malaysia is the only country to have reversed its GST policy, unlike the 170 countries in the world that have adopted it.

A 6% GST was introduced in 2015 under then prime minister Najib Razak, but it was abolished by the former Pakatan Harapan government and replaced with the current SST system in 2018.

In the lead up to the tabling of the 2024 budget, many parties had called for Putrajaya to reintroduce GST to increase the country’s revenue.

However, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim instead announced an increase in the SST rate, but excluded a range of items and services, such as food and beverages and telecommunications.

On another matter, Johari said Malaysia’s significant reliance on subsidies had affected its ability to build a strong reserve.

He said Malaysia still does not have a substantial reserve, despite starting two years earlier than Norway which now has managed to accumulate US$1.15 trillion.

“What happened is that Petronas has been (contributing) to the government in terms of their dividends, royalties, Petroleum Income Tax (Pita), but all of it ended up being used for subsidies,” he said.

Citing a Bank Negara Malaysia report, Johari said most of these subsidies did not go to the B40 income group.

[Versi Bahasa Malaysia]

KUALA LUMPUR: Bekas menteri kewangan kedua Johari Ghani berkata negara tidak boleh mengubah dasar cukai sewenang-wenang tanpa memberi notis secukupnya kepada rakyat.

Mengakui keperluan memperkenalkan semula cukai barang dan perkhidmatan (GST), katanya perubahan mendadak “daripada GST kepada cukai jualan dan perkhidmatan (SST) dan kembali kepada GST” tanpa memberi masa kepada rakyat bersiap sedia tidak digalakkan.

“Saya menjangkakan kita akan beritahu rakyat (lebih awal) akan memperkenalkan GST 2025, sebagai contoh,” katanya dalam sesi soal jawab pada Forum Ekonomi Belia 2023 di Sasana Kijang, di sini, hari ini.

“Itu supaya orang ramai boleh bersiap sedia kerana kita mesti ingat setiap kali memperkenalkan sistem baharu, akan berlaku lonjakan inflasi sebanyak sekali.”

Ahli Parlimen Titiwangsa itu berkata Malaysia satu-satunya negara yang mengubah dasar GSTnya, berbeza dengan 170 negara lain yang mengamalkannya.

GST 6% diperkenalkan pada 2015 bawah Perdana Menteri Najib Razak, sebelum dimansuhkan kerajaan Pakatan Harapan dan digantikan SST pada 2018.

Menjelang pembentangan Belanjawan 2024, ramai menggesa Putrajaya memperkenalkan semula GST bagi meningkatkan pendapatan negara.

Sebaliknya, Perdana Menteri Anwar Ibrahim mengumumkan kenaikan kadar SST, tetapi pengecualian diberikan kepada sejumlah barangan dan perkhidmatan, seperti makanan dan minuman serta telekomunikasi.

Dalam perkembangan lain, Johari berkata kebergantungan Malaysia terhadap subsidi menjejaskan kemampuan untuk membina rizab kukuh.

Katanya Malaysia masih tiada rizab besar, walaupun bermula dua tahun lebih awal daripada Norway yang kini mengumpul USD1.15 trilion.

“Apa yang berlaku ialah Petronas (menyumbang) kepada kerajaan dari segi dividen, royalti, cukai pendapatan petroleum (Pita), tetapi semuanya digunakan untuk (membiayai) subsidi,” katanya.

Memetik laporan Bank Negara, beliau berkata kebanyakan subsidi itu tidak disalurkan kepada golongan B40.