THERE are no plans to reintroduce the goods and services tax, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad today.

“I was asked by reporters, and my answer was, if the people wanted GST to be brought back, we would study it.

“But the government is not studying any proposal to reintroduce GST. There has also been no discussion on this in the PH presidential council,” said the prime minister at the Parliament lobby.

Debate over the tax was reignited last week after Dr Mahathir said the government was open to reinstating GST should the people want it.

After coming to power in May last year, Pakatan Harapan repealed the GST Act in August, replacing it with the sales and services tax that came into effect the following month.

GST is widely seen as a more efficient consumption tax system, but PH campaigned hard for its abolition in the run-up to the 14th general election.

Dr Mahathir said since his remarks last week, there has been no discussion on GST among the PH leadership.

“GST, we have not discussed. I was asked by the media about it, so I said if there was a request by the people, we would study it. We are sensitive to the people’s needs.

“But for now, there has been no study done. There has been no PH presidential council meeting.” – October 7, 2019.