He said the GST, which had been implemented by over 170 countries, could help eliminate the “black economy” of untraceable and non-taxable business transactions.
“With GST, we expect revenue to increase as we are able to efficiently manage our tax system. GST is the most efficient system in the world. Even in some countries that have changed government, the new government that took over never reversed the system.
“This is because the system is efficient as it will be able to reduce the huge black economy. If you do not have GST, you cannot expect the economy to grow to the next level, or to eliminate the black or shadow economy,” he told reporters after launching the finance ministry’s annual open day here today.
Johari was responding to Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s remark that Malaysia had been able to become an Asian Tiger without the tax.
Since Malaysia implemented the 6% tax in 2015, more companies had come forward to be included in the system, Johari added.
“For those who say this system is inefficient, I want them to come forward to explain and justify it. I have already debated several times in Parliament about GST being the best system.”
When asked about the proposal to revert to the sales and services tax (SST), Johari said it was up to the voters to decide who had brought development to the country based on track record.
On the tabling of a supplementary supply bill on Monday seeking additional budget allocations, Johari said it was a normal contingency bill. He said the government had tabled such bills in previous years to rectify some areas in the budget.
“In the past, there were times when we tabled the supplementary budget four times a year. But over the past four years, we only did it once.
“This shows that we have improved the efficiency in managing our budget. Our budget is almost accurate and we have achieved the budget deficit target. So it is not a big issue.”
According to him, the supplementary supply bill must be tabled every year to rectify certain areas involving the 18 ministries.
On Monday, Johari tabled the Supplementary Supply Bill (2017) 2018 for its first reading in Parliament, saying the extra funds were needed to support additional expenditure under the federal budget.
In October 2016, Prime Minister Najib Razak announced an allocation of RM260.8 billion when tabling the 2017 budget in the Dewan Rakyat. -FMT
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