Media Statement by Johor DAP Policy Director and Senai State Assemblyperson Wong Shu Qi on 15th March 2015(Sunday):
Customs should defer enforcement and fine on SME/I who are yet to register for GST
In moving towards April 1, the day to implement GST, Customs Department should give another 6 months for SME/I to register in considering there are still some confusion.
Meanwhile, we also urge the government to increase the bar of charging GST to at least RM 1 million turnover a year, this however has also fell on deaf ears.
This has nonetheless hit SME and SMI badly, who have rarely received assistance from the government. The government should note that the SME/I are actually helping government to collect tax on their own expenses. Government should not further burden the SME/I owners who are not familiar with the new tax system while customs officers themselves are not that helpful to them.
The government must know that small business holder who have not employed any accountant before is now required to get not only an in-house accountant to handle the tax collection and submission and also purchasing software to calculate the GST.
The cost maybe minuscule to bigger companies but definitely a huge cost increase to small business owners having only about RM500,000 turnover annually.
Hence, it is sad to see the Customs starts taking action and fine towards these ignorant business holders. We must know that RM15,000 may just be the turnover of small businesses in about 7 to 10 days and not even their net profit.
Customs should not compound immediately even before GST is implemented. 6 months warning period after April 1st should be granted for more business holders to understand and operate the new tax collection mechanism.
The government should respect the will of people who are paying the tax. Finance Minister Najib Razak should heed the call by at least giving another 6 months for business entities to register without being fined. Furthermore, Najib Razak should immediately increase the bar of charging GST to RM 1 million turnover a year.
Wong Shu Qi
Photo: Wong Shu Qi distributed GST leaflets at Taman Khet Long and explained to public how the new taxation affects everyone on March 15, 2015.