As one of the team member in the workforce of Good and Services Tax (GST)

from Ministry of Finance (MoF), I would like to pay my gratitude as I have been given
this special chance to share my two cents regarding the implementation of the GST
in Malaysia. GST is the latest tax system introduced in our beloved country, thus I
would like to fully occupied this chance to briefly explain what is actually the tax
called GST, as well as the chronological move of its implementation. Besides that,
I would also like to share why the Malaysia government really wants to make a
move to implement this tax and what are the impacts of GST towards our economy.
In this era of globalization, it is extremely crucial to be aware of the GST as a whole.
It is the right of the Malaysians to really understand about this tax system and it is
also the sign that we, as Malaysians are aware and concern towards our economy
for the sake of the future generation and the future of our beloved country,
Malaysia. To have the chance to explain about this hot issue in our country is very
challenging for me. As the person in the workforce from the ministry, I have the
responsibilities to ensure that the audience understands about GST. Therefore,
ladies and gentlemen, audience of National GST Forum, your attention will be much
appreciated throughout the speech that I am going to share in this moment.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Need to be inform that the GST is not a newly introduced tax. According to
Royal Malaysia Customs Department (RMCD) website, in 1950s, a French tax official
had implemented the GST and till this moment the tax is still considered relevant.
Until this moment, more than 160 countries are implementing this tax including the
European Union and Asian countries such as Singapore and Vietnam. Our nearest
neighbor, Singapore, had implemented the GST in 1994 and it started with 5% of
GST. Back to our tax system, Malaysia had been using few tax systems in order to
generate the economy. The tax that had been implemented such as import duty,
export duty, Government Sales Tax, Service Tax and also the Excise Duty. By
implementing the GST on the 1st of April 2015, it will replace the Government Sales
Tax and also the Service Tax that usually being charged to us especially when we
are dining in restaurants such as Pizza Hut. In the process of making this tax really
work in our beloved country, the government had proposed few steps to keep the
GST a success move. It was informed by the RMCD in the website; the GST will only
be levied and charged if the business is officially registered. For your information, if
the business does not have official receipt, they are not supposedly charged us the
tax. If they do, it means that they are collecting the tax in an illegal move.
Now, I will briefly explain the chronology of the implementation of GST in
Malaysia. On 31st March 2014, the first detail of GST implementation had been read
out in the Malaysia parliament, in front of all the Members of Parliament. In the
details, it was told that this tax will be imposed under the Sales and Tax Act 1975. In
the details, it was also told that the official date of the implementation will be on the
1st April 2015. According to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, our
country will be having the lowest rate of the GST amongst the South East Asia

Region. The first reading of the tax had also informed that the Ministry of Finance
will come out with the list of zero rated items which means that the zero rated items
will not be charged to any tax including the GST. After the first reading in the
parliament, once again in October 2014, the traders are asked to register their
business for the GST.