THE Pakatan Harapan government does not deny the fact that there will be impact from the sales and services tax (SST) when it is implemented on September 1.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the SST will have an impact on prices but it will only collect RM21 billion or almost half of what the goods and services tax (GST) collected.

“We do not deny, we are not like Barisan Nasional (BN) that said GST will reduce the price of goods. I am not saying the same. 

“The impact is there but it must be half from what the people suffered while GST was implemented,” Lim said, drawing laughter from the government aisle. 

Lim was responding to Wee Ka Siong (BN-Ayer Hitam) who asked if the price of goods will increase if SST is implemented and what are the steps taken to ensure SST will not burden the people.

After Lim’s response, Ahmad Maslan (BN-Pontian) requested a supplementary question.

Ahmad said the SST is not as transparent as GST, as it is not shown in a receipt.

Before responding to the question, Lim said Ahmad should know more about the impact of the GST but he would be cautious when receiving any advice from the former deputy international trade and industry minister.

“We do not deny the fact that GST is more transparent but it can also collect a wider amount of tax and will have an impact on the people. 

“SST is not as transparent and efficient as GST but the impact on the people would be lesser,” Lim said, adding that he would reveal why consumers were unable to claim their refunds from GST.

Earlier, Deputy International trade and Industry Minister Ong Kian Ming said SST is applied to different items and not combined to total 16%.

Ong said it was wrong to add the sales tax of 10% and services tax of 6%, as the former will be applied at manufacturing point while the latter is only for services. – July 19, 2018.