PUTRAJAYA, Oct 2 — The Customs Department is giving businesses which have not submitted their Goods and Services Tax (GST) returns until Oct 11 to do so, or be subjected to auto-assessment.

Businesses which undergo auto-assessment will have their tax returns calculated based on the revenue declared when applying for GST. 

Customs director-general Datuk Seri Khazali Ahmad said 22,184 businesses, including 800 with a turnover of more than RM5 million, had not submitted their GST-03 statement to the department. The defaulters constitute about 6 per cent of the total 390,000 business registered for GST.

“We have given them a long time to submit their statements and we cannot give them too many chances,” Khazali told a press conference yesterday.

Companies with a turnover of over RM5 million are required to submit their returns monthly, while the rest are to do so once every three months. 

After the auto-assessment, Khazali said the department would issue tax claim notices, giving businesses two weeks to pay them. 

“If they still do not pay up, we will issue a compound of RM25,000 to these companies for the first offence and another RM25,000 for the second offence. After that, I will not have any choice but to take them to court,” he said.

Under Section 41(6) of the GST Act, they face a fine not exceeding RM50,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or both.

Khazali expressed hope the department would not have to resort to legal action as they were open and willing to discuss issues faced by businesses.

“Those who don’t understand what to do, we are willing to teach them so that they submit returns correctly.

“We do not know why these businesses are (not submitting returns) because we have sent out reminders. We also tried communicating with them but they did not respond.”

Khazali said some businesses could benefit from the auto-assessment in the event that the assessment was lower than their income.

“We will have auditors to follow up on these businesses and the audit is being planned now,” he said.

“To me, this is fraud. We want to ensure that no one takes advantage of the assessment.”