Reactions to GST announcement in the 2014 Malaysian Budget

Here are some of the comments regarding the announcement of GST in Malaysia. 

GST targets a bigger group but poor hit most

-  say economists from the Socio-economic and Environment Research Institute (SERI).

The decision to finally introduce the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a regressive move that would largely hurt poor and debt-ridden Malaysians.   The introduction of consumption tax of 6% effective April 1, 2015 would in fact do more harm than good in the long run.   The poor “tend to have lower savings as most of their expenditures are for necessities”.

By pushing forward with the GST, the government would reinforce investor confidence but burden the people in the long run.

The Government need to ensure that it can enforce the GST effectively.

- say  Institut Rakyat economist

The committee tasked to oversee the implementation of GST must have the teeth to enforce the GST on traders, manufacturers so as to curb inflation.

The GST would require an input and output of tax to be enforced at every level of the supply chain, and is a tedious and complex task requiring stricter enforcement