Reconsider e-invoicing, resolve issues first, says Wee

 

MCA president Wee Ka Siong also said GST is ‘far better and more efficient’ than SST.

PETALING JAYA: MCA president Wee Ka Siong has urged the government to reconsider implementing the electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) system for taxpayers due to the unclear mechanisms involved.

In a video posted on Facebook, Wee said there are still many issues related to e-invoicing that remain vague and have raised widespread concerns.

“If we understand that e-invoicing presents numerous problems, is complex, and difficult for the public and businesses to grasp, we need to reconsider whether we should proceed with it,” he said.

In the 2024 budget, the government agreed to enforce mandatory use of e-invoice for taxpayers with annual income or sales of over RM100 million from Aug 1 this year.

However, Wee said small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that act as suppliers for big firms have been asked to implement the system, despite the implementation date for SMEs being set for July 2025.

“This is because most of the large companies wish to fully comply (with the e-invoicing system) and they have the choice. If you (the SMEs) do not implement e-invoicing, then I (the big companies) will not use your services,” he said.

He also said that penalties for those who fail to implement e-invoicing, ranging from RM200 to RM20,000, were excessive for small businesses.

“Why not go for a two-year grace period, like what was given for the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST), when businesses were not fined or penalised during that time?” he said.

Wee also lamented the frequent revision of requirements for implementing e-invoicing, with 55 data fields initially given for traders to fill in.

This was revised to 35 mandatory fields, “and now, they say it is consolidated e-invoicing and businesses only need to fill in six of the 55 fields”.

He also asked if the government could guarantee that e-invoicing users would be safe from data breaches and possible compromise of their confidential information.

Citing the 2024 fiscal report, he said the solution lies in reintroducing the GST, which is “far better and more efficient than the sales and service tax (SST)”.

“GST is the answer, especially since we are short on funds. We need to increase revenue in a more efficient manner,” he said. - FMT