GST refunds not missing, after all

Updated 4 years ago · Published on 15 Jul 2019 11:06AM · 13 Comments

PAC chairman Dr Noraini Ahmad says RM19.4 billion in GST refunds did not go missing but was channelled elsewhere. – The Malaysian Insight file pic, July 15, 2019.


THE BN government miscalculated the goods and services tax it was due to collect, the Public Accounts Committee said today.

The money that was set aside for refunds, therefore, went to expenditures, PAC chairman Dr Noraini Ahmad said in a statement.

“The previous government had overestimated the GST it would collect as it was only 65% of the GST collected,” she said.

“The money has not gone missing.”

Noraini said the government delayed transferring the money for refunds from the consolidated account to the GST refunds account to ensure adequate cash flow and to avoid a management deficit where the operating expenditure was higher than the revenue.

The Malaysian Insight reported last week that the Barisan Nasional government had used up the money set aside for GST refunds after it realising it had overestimated its revenue from the tax collected by the Customs Department.

Noraini said Section 54(2) of the GST Act and a March 13, 2015 government circular on refunds state that all GST monies should be held in a GST refunds account.

“Rule 67(1) of the GST Act also states that GST refunds should be effected within 14 and 28 working days depending on whether the requests are filed electronically or manually.

“This is to ensure that the GST refunds are paid in accordance with the law.”

She said the former government had violated the rules by putting the GST revenue in the consolidated account before transferring it in tranches to to the refunds account.

Noraini said the previous government’s policy of putting only 35% of the GST revenue in the refunds account meant that there would be insufficient money to refund the taxpayers.

PAC feels 42% of GST revenue should go into the refunds account, she said.

PAC today tabled in parliament a report on the “missing” RM19.4 billion in GST refunds owing to taxpayers.

The select committee was tasked with investigating the matter after Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng announced that the previous government had “robbed” the country of RM19.4 billion.

In the course of its investigations, PAC interviewed 10 witnesses including Lim, former finance ministers Najib Razak and Johari Ghani, the auditor-general,  the Customs Department secretary-genera, and the former Treasury secretary-general. – July 15, 2019.

Sign up or sign in here to comment.

Comments

  • How can money meant for refund to businesses used for expenditure? Is that not abuse of power?

    Posted 4 years ago by Yoon Fatt Ng · Reply

  • So it was not Criminal Breach of Trust, but just plain incompetence. Can a lawyer now holding his client's money in escrow use it to cover his cash flow? Stupid!

    Posted 4 years ago by Yoon Kok · Reply

  • She's trying not to paint a gloomy picture of her ex boss! HaHaHa!

    Posted 4 years ago by Jordan Lee · Reply

  • The laws broken when money earmarked for GST refunds was diverted to the Consolidated Account. Once there, it was used to pay IPIC a second time, as the first payment to IPIC had been stolen by Najib and Jho Low.

    Posted 4 years ago by Arul Inthirarajah · Reply

    • The law was broken.

      Posted 4 years ago by Arul Inthirarajah · Reply

  • I tak curi, cuma tak ikut undang-undang.

    Posted 4 years ago by Chean Ang Heng · Reply

  • Can't she use a simple word "steal" to describe the act?

    Posted 4 years ago by Tanahair Ku · Reply

  • Thats the problem when you appoint the opposition as the chairman of PAC.

    Posted 4 years ago by Elyse Gim · Reply

  • People ftom UMNO Will Never Ever Speak the TRUTH far more they can do any JUSTICE . Always Shit comes from their Ugly Corrupted Mouth.

    Posted 4 years ago by Mindy Singh · Reply

  • Wth u saying

    Posted 4 years ago by Lan Lan · Reply