Is Rafizi (PKR) inching back to GST and GST-less lobsters?

Rafizi: Govt to explore all fiscal approaches before reintroducing GST


Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said the government will explore all other available approaches before making any decision to reintroduce the goods and services tax (GST).

In the first episode of his debut podcast, Rafizi was questioned at length over his statement in September last year that the government is “open to reintroducing the GST” as part of its strategy to expand the tax revenue base in an effort to achieve fiscal sustainability.

“The government’s stand is that we will try our best so that the tax burden is not imposed on every single rakyat.

“If we can first tax the rich, be it through luxury goods tax, capital gains tax, subsidy rationalisations, we will do that first.

“Because that too will contribute to our fiscal strength,” said Rafizi in response to guest host Nazri Hamdan, a social media influencer known for his TikTok content discussing current issues on economics and business.

The episode’s moderator, podcaster Najib Bakar, also questioned whether there were political considerations behind any decision to reintroduce GST, as well as protests led by Pakatan Harapan as part of the federal opposition before 2018.


‘GST no silver bullet’

Commenting further, Rafizi said the present government has no immediate preference in terms of taxation and any decisions will take into consideration various financial implications on the people and economy.

“GST is not a silver bullet. We need to fix all the other things and we will be guided by several main principles.

“First, we really need to be careful whether we will transfer the tax burden to the poor," he said.

Rafizi said his initial statement on the government’s openness to reintroduce GST applies at a time when its implementation will not go against the basic principle of equity.

“When the time comes, then we are open. I don’t rule it out.

“We’re not anti-GST, but we want to do it according to the guideline, without being unfair to the people,” he said in the two-hour-long episode that also touched on various other topics including the newly launched Central Database Hub (Padu) and implementation of progressive wage.

He said other related considerations include whether the government has taken all necessary measures to plug loopholes in the system and avoid leakages in spending of taxpayers' money.

The government under then prime minister Najib Razak in 2015 had amid massive public protests introduced the GST as a replacement for the sales and services tax (SST), with a reported nett revenue of RM27.3 billion in the first year.

Harapan's first stint in Putrajaya under former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad saw the GST reduced from six percent to zero percent, followed by the reintroduction of SST.