KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today that government revenue will be short by RM21 billion if Malaysia had stayed with the Sales and Services Tax (SST) instead of replacing it with the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
While tabling Budget 2016 today, Najib said Putrajaya’s deficit would be 4.8 per cent instead of the 3.1 per cent targeted for next year if the broad-based consumption tax had not been implemented on April 1 this year.
“In our calculation, if the government had not implemented GST and had stayed with SST, our revenue will be short RM21 billion,” Najib said in the Dewan Rakyat today.
According to Najib, Putrajaya will be collecting RM39 billion from GST, compared to just RM18 billion with SST.
Najib also took a swipe at the opposition for previously criticising the GST, saying that the consumption tax has been kept in Pakatan Harapan’s alternative budget.
“Thank you to the opposition for finally understanding why we need to implement GST,” said the Pekan MP.
