THERE is no need to bring back the goods and services tax as proposed by Barisan Nasional today, said Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali.

Azmin said the matter did not arise as the government had promised the abolishment of the GST to make way for the implementation of the sales and services tax.

Earlier today, BN had proposed to bring back the GST but with a lower rate of 3%.

“The government has zero-rated the GST, so the implementation of 3% GST does not arise. This was our promise to the people, (which is) to abolish the GST and introduce the SST.

“This has been implemented and approved by the parliamentary process so it should proceed,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby today.

BN’s shadow finance minister, Khairy Jamaluddin had said the coalition proposed for the tax to be brought back but with a “larger number of goods and services exempted from it”. 

The coalition is calling its alternative budget the “Inisiatif Ekonomi Rakyat” (People’s Economic Initiative).

“If BN wants to present their suggested manifesto, we leave it to the people to see if they can accept the proposal,” said Azmin. 

He added a holistic tax system should be looked at. 

“For now, we are confident in the SST, although it will decrease in terms of collection, but with an effective system. we can cover all leakages to lessen public spending and increase revenue,” said Azmin. – November 1, 2018.