GST raises national income, says Lee
Published on: Wednesday, October 01, 2014
KAMPAR: The Goods and Services Tax is a strategy to support Malaysia's economy and strengthen its fiscal position by reducing the nation's dependence on international funds, says International Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Datuk Lee Chee Leong.He said the implementation of the GST, which replaces the existing sales tax and services tax, would reduce the financial burden on companies."Small and medium enterprise (SME) suppliers registered for the GST can claim the tax imposed on raw materials used in the manufacture of a taxable article," he said when opening a briefing on the GST here Tuesday.
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It is mandatory for companies with annual turnover exceeding RM500,000 to register for the GST, while companies with lower annual turnover may apply for voluntary registration, he said.He said the government has allocated RM150 million in financial assistance for 150,000 SMEs to buy GST accounting software between 2014 and 2015.SME Corporation Malaysia (SME Corp) provides a RM1,000 GST eVoucher on a first-come first-served basis to help SMEs purchase or upgrade their accounting software to comply with GST requirements from suppliers appointed by the Royal Malaysia Customs Department, he said.Online applications, at http://gst-evoucher.smecorp.gov.my, open on June 1 and close on Dec 31 or until the quota is reached.
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Lee said the latest survey issued by the Statistics Department shows that of the businesses registered for the GST, 97 per cent or 645,136 are SMEs, of which 77 per cent are micro enterprises with the rest in the services sector.Perak has the fourth largest number of SMEs registered for the GST, comprising 9.3 per cent of the nationwide total.
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"Of the 60,028 SMEs in the state, 81.8 per cent are in the services sector, 6.3 per cent in manufacturing and 11.9 per cent in agriculture," he said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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