PKR man tells how his proposal for 3% GST rejected by a ‘PH leader’

Wong Chen said he was instructed to amend a proposal to bring down the GST rate from 6% to 3%.

KUALA LUMPUR: PKR’s Wong Chen today revealed that he was instructed to amend a proposal to halve the goods and services tax (GST) from 6% to 3% to 0% – in Pakatan Harapan’s shadow budget three years ago.

But the Subang MP said the instruction came too late as some 200 copies of the budget book had already been printed.

Wong Chen did not reveal who gave the instruction, but merely said it was from a “leader”.

“I still remember clearly, all my officers and my interns worked hard to replace the figure from 3% to 0%.

“I was told to defend the zero-rated GST,” Wong Chen, who was instrumental in preparing the coalition’s shadow budgets, said while debating the Supply Bill 2020 in the Dewan Rakyat today.

GST, introduced in April 2015 at 6%, was replaced with the sales and service tax (SST) on Sept 1, 2018.

Wong Chen further said that following PH’s election victory last year, he had hoped that the new government would reduce the GST rate to 3%, and carry out a detailed review before reverting to the sales and service tax (SST).

He said he wanted the incident to be put on record.

“In today’s world, where history can be rewritten and policies can be changed, I would like to put on record that the GST policy that was written in my office in 2016 was reduced from 6% to 3%,” he added.

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