PETALING JAYA: The Goods and Services Tax (GST) should be brought back to replace the Sales and Service Tax (SST), says Gerakan.

Its president Datuk Dr Dominic Lau Hoe Chai said GST was a good tax policy and implemented in more than 170 countries, including Germany and the United Kingdom.

However, he suggested that GST be reintroduced with a lower tax rate.

“Gerakan suggests that the GST be reinstated at 3% to avoid burdening the people and to buffer the nation’s economy,” he said in a statement.

He said this in response to a survey by the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers and Malaysian Institute of Economic Research, which found that the introduction of SST had increased the cost of doing business by up to 10%.

Lau said the rising cost of doing business would have a domino effect as traders and businessmen would pass down the cost to consumers through price hikes.

“The implementation of the SST has failed to reduce the cost of living. The revenue of the government is also down by half due to a much smaller tax base, putting the nation’s economy to rely once more on Petronas,” he said.

The findings of the survey, he said, contradicted what Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng had been propagating.

“Is he suggesting that countries, including major economies such as the UK, Germany and China, are wrong in implementing GST while Pakatan’s argument is correct?

“Bear in mind, these countries have conducted extensive research and consideration before implementing such a policy,” he said.

Lau also called on the Pakatan government to stop abolishing good policies, which were beneficial to the country.

“Don’t go for cheap political mileage at the expense of the nation and all Malaysians,” he said.

Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/03/01/gerakan-bring-back-a-lower-gst-to-replace-sst/#ZAbbSyMOg20MUBew.99