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Friday, May 05, 2017

Truer story of GST

Malaysia-Today - ABOLISH GST NOW AND WIN MORE VOTES (extracts):



Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak should seriously consider abolishing the GST. The GST is not really bad and Malaysia is actually amongst one of the lowest in the world. No doubt this may cause a loss of RM40 billion or thereabouts a year in revenue but then this is not about economics but about politics.

You see, Pakatan Harapan is using the GST issue to turn the voters against the government. Pakatan is promising zero GST if they come to power. This may not happen, of course, but then Pakatan has only promises to offer the voters so this is what they are offering the voters, the promise that if they come to power Malaysia will have zero GST.

Hence it is crucial that the government abolish the GST and make the voters happy. Then Pakatan cannot win votes by promising zero GST if they come to power since Malaysia already has zero GST now.


I am and have always been a DAP supporter, though I must admit that lately I have been a bit fed-up with, ironically, my once idol, Lim Kit Siang, for consorting shamelessly with his once most bitter arch-foe (or archfiend, wakakaka).


As the sons and daughter of my other hero, the late Karpal Singh said (words to the effect), it would be a disaster working with a man like Mahathir - we should draw a clear line in the sand of decency and probity.



Anyway that's for another story.

But Pakatan, mainly PKR and DAP, in calling for a 0% GST is, in my humble but fair assessment, merely a political stunt and not sound economics, and if I may further say so, quite* irresponsible.


* BTW, the English word 'quite' means 'completely, wholly, or entirely', wakakaka. You didn't know that, did you?

I am not a blind-as-a-bat political this-rista or that-rista, as some in PKR, PAS and UMNO are inclined to be (what a coincidence, proving the buah bangsat langsat do not fall far from the langsat tree, wakakaka), ...

... thus even as a long time DAP supporter I have 2 issues which I totally disagree with the leaders of the DAP, these being GST and nuclear energy where I am pro both issues while my preferred party has spoken out against them.

As citizens I believe there are certain national issues which must be multi-partisan (we can't be bi-partisan since we don't have just two parties) such as defence of our nation, relieving national disasters (eg. MH370, floods, earthquakes, etc) and protecting national interests (including sports).



an example as food for thoughts 

Much as I believe GST as a fair taxation device to be a multi-partisan issue as it benefits the nation, I accept that there are those who disagree with it, though I only respect those who might not understand the good of the taxation concept, but regret those who are politicising it for their own political points despite knowing its benefits and fairness.

Let's examine the current topic GST and leave nuclear energy for another post. I will draw in part on what I had written previously to argue in favour of GST, independent of politics.

Though scheduled for mid 2011, as a result of concerns and complaints, the Malaysian GST only came into effect on 01 April 2015 (no, it wasn't an April Fool's joke, wakakaka). Its aim was also to prepare for the day when we can no longer draw on taxes from our diminishing oil resources.

It was reported that one of the directors of the National Consumer Complaints Centre Muhammad Sha’ani Abdullah said, “The government should create more awareness on what the GST is. The public cannot be blamed for their lack of understanding, and thus, their fears”. 

I agree with him as the general Malaysian public incorrectly believes GST is a new tax at 6% in addition to previous taxes such as the Sales & Services taxes at 5 to 15%.

Sha’ani also said the GST will improve accounting, reduce tax fraud, and facilitate enforcement of the upcoming Anti-Profiteering Act.

Needless to say, Mahathir came out with guns blazing, merely shooting at anything issued by Najib, plus probably wishing (I speculate here based on Rehman Rashid's article in his book Peninsula, wakakaka, that the Old Man was mightily jealous of AAB's landslide election victory in 2004, probably wishing it was his, wakakaka again) he had been the one to introduce the GST.



suppose it's his rights to be jealous but he invited some adverse responses from international economists.

On 28 January this year the MM Online in its news article Economists rebuff Dr M’s pledge to repeal GST reported (extracts):

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 28 — Economists have warned against Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s plan to abolish the Goods and Services Tax in the event Pakatan Harapan wins federal power, saying such a move would paint Malaysia as regressing on needed fiscal reforms.

Firdaos Rosli, a fellow of Economics at the Institute of Strategic International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia, went as far as saying it was “preposterous” to entertain the idea of abolishing the GST when the Budget deficit was again widening.

“I don’t think anyone in their right mind would want to do that. Maybe we should ask him (Dr Mahathir) what is he going to do with the economy when you are short by RM40 billion in revenue?” Firdaus told Malay Mail Online.

The consumption tax was among the measures that ratings firms had pressed Malaysia to adopt in order to diversify its revenue stream that had once been heavily dependent on petroleum income. [...]

“Having a robust indirect tax system such as the GST also means that the economy is not going to suffer badly when there is a shortfall in direct tax such as corporate tax and income tax during an economic crisis. Kind of like a buffer,” Firdaos said.

Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Dr Jayant Menon held similar views against repealing the consumption tax, saying it would be detrimental to the government’s efforts to control its fiscal deficit.


And Mahathir had been the very person who said he would do away with BR1M. What a putar-belit-rista, wakakaka.



Tidak, berita atas bohong
saya tidak sebut nak hentikan BR1M

sebenarnya kerajaan saya akan jamin BR1M

mungkin khas untuk pribumi sahaja

As mentioned, GST at 6% replaces the old Sales-and-Service (S&S) tax at 5 to 15%. This means at most any increase from old prices would be at 1% (from the old S&S tax at 5% to GST at 6%) ...

... while savings through GST could be up to 9% (from the S&S tax up to 15% reduced to GST at 6%).

And some goods are NOT subjected to GST, like most fresh food including the naughty and unfair extreme example provided in May 2015 by Afif Bahardin, Penang Exco on health and agriculture.

Afif naughtily showed the contrast between a fresh or uncooked lobster against the processed or manufactured instant noodles and biscuits, arguing GST would be to the benefit of the rich.

Why didn't he show the contrast between fresh or uncooked choy sum against the processed or manufactured cheese, wines and caviar
?

After all, lobsters belong more to the same domain as cheese, wines and caviar. So what's the difference?

Is it raw and uncooked (no GST) or is it manufactured, processed and/or cooked (GST-ed)?

And if he had had his lobster in one of the Batu Kawan seafood restaurant in Tambun that I went to recently, wakakaka, he would have to pay GST as well, lobster or no lobster.


But he was/is a politician so he should be excused for his unfair examples, though we should be more careful about listening to such types of exploitative arguments.

Now, a quick question - if GST at 6% has replaced the previous Sales-and-Service tax of 5 to 15%, and if Pakatan comes to power following GE-14, what will Nurul Izzah's GST at 0% mean for Malaysia?

Let me answer my rhetorical answer - there will be ZERO tax for all goods and services as GST will be at zero while the S&S had been replaced by GST, which will effectively make the entire Malaysia far more tax-free than Langkawi, Brunei and some of the Gulf oil-countries.

Hope she can find RM43 Billion from her own pocket to subsidise the Malaysian national budget.

Alternatively and more likely, immediately after GE-14 if her party were to win to form government, her government will raise the GST back to at least 6%, if not more.

Now coming to Chinese Malaysians (bitches and dogs to Mahathir) - One of the hypocritical or bizarre moronic outcome of our toxic politics is that of some Chinese taking an anti-GST stand, when the GST actually mitigates (solves) one of their age-long complaints, namely, that they (the Chinese) alone have been bearing most of the taxes in Malaysia.


Chinese Malaysians against GST 

To understand what I mean, please read my July 2013 post Food for thought (1) - GST

Bodoh punya Cina! Wakakaka, but alas, such is the venomous toxicity in our politics, thanks to very effective Pakatan-Pribumi campaigning against Najib that the latter must be the most evil man on earth, doing nothing else but bad things, although Mahathir had done far far worse than any politician in Malaysia for 30 years, destroying our nation's most hallowed institutions and fiddling away our once formidable wealth, and sadly, is getting away with them and even seen as a re-born saviour.

GST is already a tax in more than 160 countries including Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, UK (Britain), etc, because it simplifies taxation on goods to only one single tax instead of multiple layers of taxes.

If correctly monitored, maintained and enforced it is the fairest form of taxation - anyone uses it, he or she pays taxes for it. No consumer should be able to slip through.

In Malaysia it's 6%, while in other nations it is higher (10% in OZ, 15% in NZ and 20% in UK).


And it does NOT tax on raw or unprocessed foodstuff so the poorer rakyat actually escape from most of it, like the rich men's stuff which are GST-ed such as wines, cheeses, tobacco, restaurant cooked lobsters, crabs and abalones (wakakaka) and those evening buka-puasa jamuan at hotels.

The Malaysian GST is NOT applied to the following:


  • Agricultural products – paddy, fresh or chilled vegetables, certain provisionally preserved vegetables
  • Essential foodstuff – oils, salt, flour, etc.
  • Livestocks and livestock supplies or poultry – live animals and unprocessed meat
  • Eggs
  • Fish – live, fresh, frozen and dried
  • First 300 kwh of electricity for domestic use
  • Water for domestic users
  • Goods supplied to designated areas from Malaysia – Labuan, Langkawi & Tioman
  • Exported goods
  • Exported services – such as architecture services in connection with land outside Malaysia
  • Selected services in Malaysia – such as pilotage, salvage or towage services
  • International services – such as transport of passengers or goods from a place in Malaysia to a place outside Malaysia
  • RON95 petrol, diesel and LPG
  • Sale of Residential Property
  • Services provided by Government which are not considered commercial services, such as permits, licences etc. Services considered commercial are TV advertisement, rental of equipments, rental of multifunction halls etc.


So stop the bullshit about the poor suffering from it. In fact some previously taxed goods at 15% S&S tax would have now become cheaper.


Don't conflate removal of government subsidy for oil as GST. Subsidy is subsidy and not tax. They are different. Government subsidies are like Daddy's provided pocket money, which when removed, will naturally see some losses to the pocket due to a rise in prices of subsidised goods (which foreigners North and South had unfairly benefited at our expense).

And don't mistake personal taxation and zakat (for Muslims) with GST. GST is a tax on consumption, not on personal earnings or required by religion (Christians also have a Christian zakat which is far far worse).

Mind, some portion of the GST collected (calculated fairly on which state provides how much GST) should be returned to state governments as state revenue, and not kept just by the federal government.

That's what is being done in OZ though richer states like New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria (Vic) have complained that their share of GST have gone to states like Western Australia (WA).

I personally and professionally support GST where every consumer pays. As for government subsidies, which is an entirely different issue, we need a separate post to avoid mistaking one for another.

Many in Malaysia might have misunderstood GST as an additional tax on top of the various taxes on goods employed previously. To reiterate, it is NOT. It replaces the generally far more expensive Sales-and-Service tax.

So don't listen to Mahathir. He talks cock on GST as he had previously talked cock on BR1M which he now embraces so tightly you would think he personally conceptualised and implemented it.

That's the usual bullshit sprouted by putar-belit-ish Mahathir.


If his son gets into government as the PM of his Pribumi controlled Pakatan, dear Mukhriz will retain the GST on the advice of daddy Emperor Imperial and who knows, may even raise it above 6%, perhaps as additional revenue for more Forex entertainment or to build another Arabian-night type Putrajaya No 2?


I won't be surprised if a new government under Mahathir may even re-categorise BR1M as exclusively for his pribumis and placed it under the NEP program which means the nons won't get it. He is that type of person.

As the experts (economists) say, Malaysia cannot do without the GST. The 'failed state' that you warned about will materialise if Mahathir removes the GST.

But he won't; he only talks cock now, but will shaft you gullible hopefuls later if he gets back into power.



56 comments:

  1. The reason most Chinese in Malaysia are up in arms against GST in Malaysia is that Chinese small and medium businesses have borne the brunt of the damage wrought by GST as executed and enforced in Malaysia.

    Inability to claim back Input tax, mala fide discrimination in GST audits, heavy handed enforcement actions.

    The GST-loving "tax experts" do not realise or do not care there there are onerous and costly record-keeping and traceability requirements by GST, the burden which falls hardest on Small and Medium sized businesses.

    Yes, GST should most definitely be made a political issue, because the solution lies in the political field.

    I don't consider an Aussie who does not have to put up with all these problems as qualified to comment on the subject of GST in Malaysia.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. we have 10% GST in OZ so don't tell me Malaysians are the ONLY ones to have GST which prevails in more than 160 countries.

      Yes, it's true small and medium shopkeepers require some paperwork but it's a small price to pay for generally cheaper goods than those taxed by S&S from 5 t 15%

      You complain because it's Najib's govt which set it. If it has been Mahathir's government as in the numerous tolls and other increases in prices, you sucked on it as you had

      Delete
    2. Malaysia's Standard of Living has not been improved, why burden the people with 6%, as it should have been started with 2.5%. Just across the causeway, 6% gst is included in the final outpricing but people are willing to accept it as it started off wit 2.5% initially. Singapore Government did not do any blunders like 1MDB and even it had happen during LKY times when Singapore also suffered heavy losses using CPF investments. But LKY did not burden the people with high tax. The only point is why is the 6% is due to high migrants whether illegal or legal is staying in Malaysia. Learn from our neighbours with 70% - 80% migrant working force why gst is needed.

      Delete
    3. as mentioned GST at 6% replaces the sales-&-service which was at 5 to 15%, and on average we can see cheaper tax overall

      don't bring in 1MDB which even if true does not have to do with GST per se. For example, Australia started off with 10% GST and has/had no 1MDB

      The problem with Malaysian GST is that people see it through politically biased prism (conflating it with 1MDB, kleptomacy, etc), instead of it being just a simpler fairer and more efficient tax where no one escapes some form of fair taxation, and which 160 plus nations all over the world have adopted due to its superior and simpler concept

      this post is not about Najib and his alleged crimes but about GST which could well serve any government, not just the BN government

      Delete
    4. before you speak about how some country have high GST and we in malaysia are complaining this..1st look at the social benefit that they can get back through others benefit while paying high tax.. 2nd if there is no 1MDB..our country will not fall this hard hence there is noneed for GST to begin with. other government is using GST to improve their nation but our government are using it to PAY OFF 1MDB Debt INSTEAD.. and if we are really that hard press with revenue..why are the government keep having this deficit Budget..look at the Budget..Education / Health budget is BEEN CUT which is bullshit and we continue to give out BRIM. if the government Finance is that bad..than they should stop giving out BRIM and reduce the budget of some Ministry Budget as well.

      Delete
    5. Vietnam 10%, Philippines 12%, Indon 10%. Do Australia, NZ, Sing and above mentioned countries have 1MDB?

      Delete
  2. why must pay 6% on finished produts?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. cheaper than S&S tax which was up to 15%, or would you prefer that?

      Delete
    2. it doesn't matter whatever percentage slapped. in the era of sst, the price of a cellphone is let's say rm1k then you just pay that amount but now 6% is added on it. betul ka macam ni?

      Delete
    3. you previously paid RM1,000 of which perhaps (let's put a round nice figure of 10% S&S tax - it could be as high as 15%), so minus the 10% S&S tax, the phone should be RM900

      Now you pay RM900 + 6% = RM954, RM46 CHEAPER than previously.

      If mobiles were taxed at 15%, then minus S&S tax, it should be RM850, plus 6% GST = RM901, almost RM100 cheaper with GST

      Thus GST could see cheaper goods in many cases.

      Delete
    4. Let me give u a simplest example, using yr handphone analogy, as happened in bolihland.

      Since the comment page doesn't allow tables & graphics, some clarities might have lost.

      But try yr best lah.

      The handphone importer still pays custom&excise duties at the point of entry.

      He adds his margin & sell the phone to his dealers with additional 6% GST. Do remember, before GST implementation there is NO this 6%.

      The dealers suddenly have to pay 6% more, so he adjusted their margin accordingly. What they sell for RM1000 now becomes RM1000+6%(new price)+6%(buyer GST).

      There is NO SST for handphone before at the buyer end.

      So, how to sell cheaper?

      For local manufactured products, lagi teruk.

      Same argument applies.

      Furthermore multi-layer auditing for GST contra is difficult & time consuming. Lagi, contra refund takes ages as mentioned by Monster. Palm geasing for indpecting custom officers adds more cost to the margin.

      All said, how to be cheaper as in advanced economies?

      A mis-management of utopian syiok-sendiri vis-a-vis real life practicals in bolihland.

      Delete
    5. the should world and real world are two diff things. banyak harga barang2 (finished products) naik & kena tambah 6% lagi. as mentioned before gst in malaysia is screwed up.

      Delete
    6. you don't know much about GST, do you?

      GST is just one tax on goods, full stop.

      and you're telling me Malaysia did not apply S&S tax on mobiles and other goods? Then according to you, Malaysia must have been a tax-free haven like the Gulf nations

      Delete
    7. don't blame GST for inefficient or corrupt administration or unscrupulous shopkeepers - make a police report or Fair Trades Act report on them

      Delete
    8. Perhaps u DON'T know how GST works in bolihland!!!

      Forget about yr utopian gst thought that MIGHT workef in Oz lah.

      In M'sia there is NO S&S tax for handphone at buyer end. There is custom & excise duties at entry point.

      Tsk....tsk...talk about blur-sotongs. There r blur-sotongs then there is KT!

      "don't blame GST for inefficient or corrupt administration or unscrupulous shopkeepers - make a police report or Fair Trades Act report on them"

      In bolihland?

      Then, again still trapped in yr dead silo end of that opinion singularity! This time, purely on gst theory. Far far away from real bolihland practicality.

      How sad.

      Must be very good time for u in Oz le.

      Delete
    9. ayoyo, gst is a non-living thing & i have nothing against it. my nephew just got back from u.k. after 8 yrs there, and he said the rate is never added on the price tag. yes, we have been paying the sst before but the rate is included in the quoted price. kalau rm500, kita bayar rm500 mana ada tambah lagi 10% atau 15%. shouldn't the gst work the same way as sst which ahmad maslan claimed most of the goods will be cheaper?

      Delete
    10. btw, we went to a seafood rest last nite @ gertak sanggul, the bill was split in 2 portions i.e. goods (ikan, udang & ketam)- gst yilek, & service (upah masak) kena 6%.

      Delete
    11. the rm500 already included the 5 to 15% S&S, jadi with GST and the doing-away with S&S (say the S&S was a medium 10%), then the item minus 10% S&S should be rm450 and with 6% gst, should be sold off at rm477, cheaper than previous price of rm500 by rm23.

      with gst, the receipt (or docket) must show the gst charged whereas with S&S it was not required to be shown, which might have given you the impression that the price had an additional 6% slapped on it.

      Thus the new receipt would show good rm450, gst rm27 = rm477.

      Delete
    12. re your "i.e. goods (ikan, udang & ketam)- gst yilek"

      if uncooked then that's correct, if cooked and gst was not collected, then the owner committed an offence under the tax act for gst - I don't know what's the penalty. hope he/she doesn't kena, wakakaka

      Delete
  3. "As the experts (economists) say, Malaysia cannot do without the GST. The 'failed state' that you warned about will materialise if Mahathir removes the GST."

    "Firdaos Rosli, a fellow of Economics at the Institute of Strategic International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia, went as far as saying it was “preposterous” to entertain the idea of abolishing the GST when the Budget deficit was again widening."

    Ada baca betulx2 ke?

    So the devil is in the detail, ok?

    Detail here IS 'the Budget deficit was again widening'.

    Iff the Budget deficit is NOT again widening, then there r other means to balance the fiscal deficit in the Budget le!

    Yr ahjibgor is the one that has ballooned the budget deficit manyx2 time during his terms lah.

    "External Debt in Malaysia averaged 199037.98 MYR Million from 1990 until 2016, reaching an all time high of 908704.13 MYR Million in the fourth quarter of 2016 and a record low of 9063 MYR Million in the second quarter of 1997."

    So, still blame mamak or manmanlai for fiscal mis-management?

    Taxation is A OK by a benevolent govt. But it becomes a tool to squeeze the rakyat by a kleptomaniac regime to get more revenues for its opulent indulgences & plain daylight corruptions.

    Tak baca history ke???

    得民心者得天下。

    Logical & reasonable taxes r ok. The rakyat WILL pay.

    But GST is a later day consumption tax invented purely to meet fiscal deficit of a 'tak-bolih' govt of the world.

    Most tak-bolih govts want easy way out in a political-correctness manner so as not to upset the populace.

    If one manages the economic of the country WELL, WHY need extra taxes to balance the budget?

    Think outside the boxes lah!

    Others do/practice a scheme, doesn't make that scheme the ONLY good solution. At most it's the easy way out.

    Betul tak?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In other words, most of the world's (160 plus) nations are, in your words, tak-bolih govts who want easy way out in a political-correctness manner so as not to upset the populace.

      Thus most of them did not manage the economic of the country other WHY would they need extra taxes to balance the budget?

      secondly, this post is about GST, not your arguments who caused the current deficit, whether it has been Najib or Mahathir who lost many many many billions on Forex, Perwaja, Maminco, Bank Bumi, Proton, etc etc etc, or his former side-kick Anwar

      Delete
    2. Really pandai twisting!

      "this post is about GST"!!!

      Am I not writing about GST??

      Perhaps

      1) u r looking at the theory of the GST of the advanced economies vis-a-vis bolihland. Thus, u r talking about an utopian (Ivory tower) concept than a practical version that even advance economies couldn't comply in total.

      Checkmate yr blurx2 argument of GST vs SST lah.
      GST is a layer tax that is accumulative. Hence can be legally manipulated for extra 'margin'.
      Human nature dictates that unless strict auditting from beginning till end, is maintained, the chance of abuse is high.

      SST is a single end tax that is more difficult to do the same legally.

      2) honestly, how many countries on earth r managing their economy well enough to avoid unnecessary taxation. So, in that sense (GST) ain't they tak-bolih?

      Pls tell. Don't give cockagroo argument!

      3) so, if a scheme is deemed 'good' bcoz it has user numerical superiority, then why r u so critical about ruu355?

      Idiots do idiots see, doesn't mean it's the best. Betul tak?

      3) bolihland is doing fine until yr ahjibgor accelerates the govt debts. So w/o current deficit, WHAT GST necessity r u talking about? If GST isn't necessary then why argues for its pro & con, both theory & implementation mechanism?

      4) u really can't see the forest for the tree! Mamak did it, so yr idol must be allow to do likewise! Banyak pandai!!!

      I see yr argument on the same light as yr sifu's.

      Is there a concerted effort in mixing simple but twisted utopian answers with half truth to confuse the blur-sotongs ke?

      Delete
    3. you asked "Am I not writing about GST??"

      No, you wrote "Detail here IS 'the Budget deficit was again widening'.

      Iff the Budget deficit is NOT again widening, then there r other means to balance the fiscal deficit in the Budget le!

      Yr ahjibgor is the one that has ballooned the budget deficit manyx2 time during his terms lah.

      "External Debt in Malaysia averaged 199037.98 MYR Million from 1990 until 2016, reaching an all time high of 908704.13 MYR Million in the fourth quarter of 2016 and a record low of 9063 MYR Million in the second quarter of 1997."

      So, still blame mamak or manmanlai for fiscal mis-management?"

      Delete
    4. and then you also wrote:

      "3) bolihland is doing fine until yr ahjibgor accelerates the govt debts. So w/o current deficit, WHAT GST necessity r u talking about? If GST isn't necessary then why argues for its pro & con, both theory & implementation mechanism?

      4) u really can't see the forest for the tree! Mamak did it, so yr idol must be allow to do likewise! Banyak pandai!!!

      I see yr argument on the same light as yr sifu's.

      Is there a concerted effort in mixing simple but twisted utopian answers with half truth to confuse the blur-sotongs ke?"

      was that GST?

      if you hate RPK, go over to his site to complain. Why complain to me?

      Delete
    5. Still don't see the argument ke?

      Whatever said & done so far, centred around GST, betul tak?

      U ONLY want to talk about the theory of GST.

      What about the causality of GST?

      Ain't they also about GST?

      Real cockagroo to the nth!!!

      Hate rpk, no. Just his udang dibelakang batu.

      He faced his own undoings. Just like many of us.

      Going to his site????

      Well, shithole is tainted with choirboys. Why waste time to be binned.

      At least here, there is still some decency!

      Delete
  4. Finally, a truthful article on the GST bogeyman from someone outside the government.

    Here, the opposition is beating a good child for the sake of political opportunism.

    Quite unforgivable, really. (remember, "quite"?)

    ReplyDelete
  5. we look at gst from the people's perspective. the question we ask is how gst benefit us. can u write a similar long article to enlighten us how gst benefit the people, in msia context? bear in mind that govt tax revenue increase from taxing the consumer ie people.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have provided a case of mobile phones as requested by kampong lad - I admit I do not know what was the previous sale&service tax on mobiles. Thus for my hypothetical example, I assume S&S tax at 10% - it could be higher or lower but for our discussion let's assume it's at 10%, and we can work the final figures from this point:

      you previously paid a hypothetical RM1,000 for a mobile of which perhaps (let's put a round nice figure of) 10% S&S tax - (yes, it could be as high as 15%), so minus the 10% S&S tax, the phone should be RM900

      Now you pay RM900 + 6% = RM954, RM46 CHEAPER than previously.

      If mobiles were taxed at 15%, then minus S&S tax, it should be RM850, plus 6% GST = RM901, almost RM100 cheaper with GST

      Thus GST could see cheaper goods in many cases.

      Some electricity and water are not GST-ed, and neither are RON95, diesel and LPG so no change

      Many raw stuff like fresh veg, fish, prawns, meat, eggs, oils, salt, flour, are not GST-ed, so no change

      But goods which carried more than 6% S&S tax would now be cheaper for the rakyat.

      So how could GST overall not benefit the rakyat

      I am pro GST not because of any political affiliation in Malaysia but based on my experience in Oz. Now those who evade taxes will have to pay up, at least in some quantum instead of getting away scot-free

      govt revenue increase because people who previously evaded taxes can't now run away from consumption tax, and it's a simpler taxation system for the government, thus the nation

      Delete
    2. actually hasan n lad already provide the explanation many times. gst is comprehensive n sapu all, including the lower income group that dun pay tax in the past. those that evade tax will continue to do so, it is the same reason y oz have less corruption, or tax evasion, u may call this cultural, behavior, or affluence.

      simple arithmetic, if cost & profit remain same, but tax revenue up, the causal is of course the consumer, thus the next question is which consumer group suffer the most? rich, middle or poor? so prove to us the rich pay the most under gst regime, bolih tak?

      let me answer u y pricing rarely come down, 1) sst scope is limited unlike the almost sapu all gst 2) the cost to maintain gst system n implementation.

      u n sara r confuse. gst is a good system to collect more tax, whether this benefit the people is another story. wrt partisan n prejudice, u both may have a point, just ask simple question to dap (no need ask any other malay party bec dap chinese is the greatest) did they fulfill their promise to abolish toll, if no, u can claim they r no diff with bn, n might continue with gst even come to power.

      i am glad they r still sound from pas to criticize gst, perhaps the dedak is not fairly distributed n wan more, or they sincerely speak on poor muslim behalf.(pas now is not for all, only for muslim).

      one of reason we prefer a govt from the other is their ability to lessen the people burden, plus many others of course, not their good system to collect more tax, u n sara ada paham? must be the education eh?!

      Delete
    3. people who avoid income tax is not teh topic and has nothing to do with gst.

      the people most affected by the gst would be the middles class group - the bell curve theory holds good for real life. it's also why the government loves to tax the middle class most because they are the biggest group and hence the biggest source for taxation

      gst is undeniably a consumption tax so whoever consumes, whether rich, middle class or poor or even foreigners, illegals, would have to pay gst - that's why gst revenue goes up

      but for the poor rakyat there are so many exemptions for gst it's unbelievable. in oz the tax office hits aussie with 10% on every form of petrol, unlike malaysia which does NOT gst RON95, diesel and LPG

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    4. "people who avoid income tax is not teh topic and has nothing to do with gst."
      -but tis is what u wrote "govt revenue increase because people who previously evaded taxes can't now run away from consumption tax"

      "the people most affected by the gst would be the middles class group"
      - bec the poor have brim?

      "gst is undeniably a consumption tax so whoever consumes, whether rich, middle class or poor or even foreigners, illegals, would have to pay gst - that's why gst revenue goes up"
      - so how this make gst fair? the rich, thief n robber can always consume outside msia

      "but for the poor rakyat there are so many exemptions for gst it's unbelievable. in oz the tax office hits aussie with 10% on every form of petrol, unlike malaysia which does NOT gst RON95, diesel and LPG"
      - did u compare the gdp per capita n the poverty rate btw oz n msia? what abt car price n ownership if u wanna talk ron95? n how all this exemption make gst, again, fair? by the way, i still dun understand y gst is fair while income tax is not?

      lastly it is mahathir that said chinese paid 90% tax, so u n sara, pls, dun twist as if the chinese said this. shd sara dad said the same is fine since most know he is a liar.

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    5. GST at 6% replaces S&S tax at 5 to 15%. If you don't have GST then you will continue to have S&S which on average was must higher

      when did I write the Chinese paid 90% of the national income tax. Don't fabricate bullshit please.

      As for GST the reason why you and a couple others oppose it even though in your heart of hearts you know it's beneficial and fair, has been because the consumption tax has been issued by Najib. Had it been Manmanlai or Mahathir you would have sucked on it like Madame Deep Throat. Time for you to think national rather than parochial politics

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    6. when the rich middle n poor pay the same tax rate, I cant see this as "fair". i could only conclude that u have a unique understanding of what is "fair",

      wrt to fabricate bs, u got to ask the liar not that smart gal, I copypaste here "The best part of KTemoc’s blog posting is the part where he says that the Chinese have been complaining for so long that they are paying 90% of the income tax while the non-Chinese pay very little."

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    7. rich or poor take a bus ride - would there be differentiated payment; rich & poor eat char koay teow of same order, would there be differentiated payment?

      Why should I ask why people quote me, just like you quote me several times, imputing I love ah jib gor? wakakaka

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    8. can agree with yr 1st statement. i misunderstood that a socialist or 1 that support socialism would have a diff interpretation of how fairness work.

      on 2nd, u dun have to ask, since u clarify, i achieve my intention. lying is hereditary.

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    9. as you're a political child of Anwar then, and Mahathir now I accept your confession

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    10. Aiyoyo...getting simplistically philosophical.

      A 3rd level twisting of a superficial simple question.

      Let me throwing in a spanner;

      Rich or poor take a bus ride will each paying the same fare if the bus is compartmentalized into business, economic?

      Rich & poor eat char koay teow of same order, would there be differentiated payment if one is eating at a 5-star hotel & the other at the kaki-lima?

      Is that WHY all over the world, rich & poor r paying different tax rates just to STAY in a same country?

      Wordsmith, yr hiastu seems to have upgraded yr skill le!

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    11. actually you are the one insistent on twisting a simple statement to get your politically biased answer. poor try, you're truly pathetic

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    12. Twisting a simple statement??? Siapa?

      Politically biased??? Mana??

      NOW who's pathetic????

      Wakakakaka. Dedak don't just come down from the sky lah.

      Try harder like yr sifu's getting into racially illogical of a trashy spin of

      http://www.malaysia-today.net/dont-build-mosques-in-towns-and-where-there-are-humans/

      See...he is suggesting mosques for zombies le!!!

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  6. Only about 1.8 million Malaysians are paying individual income tax. Thus, GST is more comprehensive. But higher GST for arak and rokok..please.

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    Replies
    1. GST is of one figure, not staggered figures for various types of goods. C'mon, Bro Hasan, don't let your prejudice governed you, wakakaka

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    2. Listed below is the probable GST Structure to be implemented in India in 2017.

      Luxury and de-merits goods and sin category items e.g. luxury cars, tobacco, alcoholic drinks - 28% and plus cess.

      All services such as banking, telecom, insurance, restaurants, fees, professional charges etc -18%

      Essential farm produced mass consumption items like foodgrains, rice and wheat - 0 %

      Common use and mass consumption food items such as spices, tea and mustard oil excluding processed foods - 5%

      Processed foods - 12%

      White goods and cars - 28%

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    3. India currently does NOT have a GST. But on 01 July 2017 it will have, though it's differentiated rates will be akin to the old Malaysian Sales & Service Tax and not simplified as GST is meant to be - But that's India, wakakaka

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  7. Sorry, GST does not make things cheaper here, it is only in theory. Nothing gets cheaper & don't assume zero rated is applied strictly on all things. My pork bought got GSTed too. The only thing with price ever gone down is petrol for a few cents for over a week while most times is all gone up. Either the price stays the same while the portion shrinks or get more expensive. Show me one single item in Malaysia that has cheaper price after GST implementation. Purely in theory.

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  8. GST for massage and prostitution services - 200%... wakakaka

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    Replies
    1. wakakakaka..

      MUST be from the bills that u had been charged after the quickies!

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    2. goods is "raw meat" so no GST but 'service" is GST-ed, wakakaka

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  9. A loaf of bread is not GSTed in 7-11 but is when bought in supermarkets like AEON. Some restaurants GSTed you after adding service charge. Some before. My pork is GSTed. There is no consistency out there. I just highlight some examples.

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    Replies
    1. raw pork (that is, if ubncooked) is exempted form GST. The law says "Livestocks and livestock supplies or poultry – live animals and unprocessed meat" are exempted from GST. You could have been conned by your butcher - not a GST problem

      7/11 was idle and can be reported to teh Taxation Office for not GST-ing bread, though flour is not GST-ed

      Restaurant service charge has nothing to do with GST tax, but is the restaurant's policy to extract tips from you under the title 'service charge'. You must have eaten at a posh place to be charged the restaurant tip or 'service charge', wakakaka.

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    2. You still don't get it, do you? What the commentators have been sharing to you thus far here is in real life out there, what the law says and what supposes to be in theory do not work in reality in Malaysia.

      You can make all the complaints you want but nothing will change. No actions will be taken. Dod you even grow up in Malaysia? You sounded like Malaysia is damn effective and clean. I buy raw pork from the local chain store. I gave receipt example of variations of how GST is applied in typical non-air-conditioned kopitiams that middle income and poor people typical visit. I don't compare a roadside kopitiam vs. a 5-star restaurant.

      The government boasts everyday hoe much revenue frm GST is collected but our products are getting smaller and more expensive each day. Our roads remain shitty, infrastructures remained not maintained. Various sectors have seen budgets slashed. You only hear PMO getting deeper budgets and BR1M getting more allocation. If you still don't understand why commoners don't believe in the GST, I guess I will just give up explaining further. There is no will to do this correctly and fairly & ultimately to benefit commoners in Malaysia.

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    3. I will also give up explaining as some of you have refused to accept what is true. You only want to politicise anything issued by Najib.

      My concern is not political but for the national good. GST can serve whichever government comes to power. That's why 160 plus nations around the world have GST

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    4. A rather childish response which sums out that I am against Najib for opposing GST, I'm quite disappointed with your remark and sound exactly like our typical MPs who blame everything to be politicized. If there is no benefit to the commoners, I don't care who the PM is. National good? 160 countries can't be wrong IF the tax is used WISELY. If not, even if all the countries on this planet collect GST, it does not prove that it will be fairly used if leakages are there. You can abuse it. Again, in theory it is good, in reality in a 3rd world country with high rampant corruption that everyone of us experienced daily (except you who see a perfect country), I don't trust the GST is being used WISELY. I can't see anything concrete has changed for the better since GST is collected. None. Zero. Zilch.

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  10. If the Malaysian government had simply given a hard-headed explanation that the Government's finances are precarious, and GST is needed to provide the Government with a new and broader source of revenue. Otherwise either the Government would have to cut development expenditure, or the number of employees.
    That would have been a true explanation, and I would support it.
    Instead the government came up with a Smoke and Mirrors show selling GST as the best thing since Roti Canai, and that prices would come down.
    That is so laughable, as anybody who actually lives and buys goods in Malaysia knows too well (not counting Aussie bloggers living in La La Land).

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  11. Personally, I would agree on GST implementation. It does more good than harm to the country as written by Ktemoc. However I would like to point out that GST is a replacement for sales tax that was at 10% for all sales tax taxable good. Service tax at 6% has been there all this while at 6% before GST was implemented. The 6% service tax was imposed for company that was defined as providing services such as printing company and was only imposed if the revenue exceeded RM500,000 a year. Otherwise there is no 6% service tax. I agreed with some comments that GST has increased the cost of living. But the increase should be minimal or nor increase at all. The increase was purely for some of the following reasons. One - unscrupulous distributor/wholesaler/retailer. They just add the 6% GST to their cost without deducting the 10% sales tax in their costing. Second - the price will increase if previously the margin of the supply chain is more than 38% or a markup from the cost of more than 76%. For example for a RM100 shoes with a cost of RM60 means the margin is RM40 or 40%. With GST, a 40% margin of retailer will increase the price slightly, around RM1.00. But a 40% margin I believe is a minimum margin for a retailer to survice. Third - which I believe contributes more to the price increase is the depreciating value of RM. As a nation, we still rely heavily on the imported raw material to produce our goods. Livestock feed produced in Malaysia still requires some percentage of foreign raw material. Even the clothing locally produced used imported material. Our so-called national car Proton and Perodua still import some components and depending on models, it can be as high as 60%. And for the local components of 40%, it also use some imported material or components. There are may be some other factors that make GST looks really bad but the above three factors are the major factors in my opinion. And I believe if GST is removed, most goods will not see price reduction. One reason is, the government has no choice but to re-instate sales tax or some other type of tax to replace the loss GST revenue of RM43 billion. The only difference is there is no GST stated in you invoice/ receipt. Secondly, the unscrupulous retailer will again take advantage of reducing the price. So whatever you pay now at RM10.00 plus GST of 60 cents, will remain the same when GST is abolished. Except that the receipt will show you one number RM10.60 without the 6% GST stated in your invoice.

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