MCA today claimed that the government lacked effort to address the rakyat's “misunderstanding” of the much criticised Goods and Services Tax (GST).

spad meeting mca and jalan sultan shop owners 230811 chua soi lek "There remains a great deal of misunderstanding concerning the GST... The government can do a little more to educate Malaysians," said party president Chua Soi Lek ( left ) during his speech at the national conference ‘Making a high income nation into reality’ in Subang Jaya today.

Asked to clarify this during a press conference afterwards, Chua said that the rakyat still do not understand the benefits of GST, mainly due to "spinning by the opposition that the new tax will increase the financial burden on the rakyat".

He lamented that the government is not doing enough to counter such “spin”.

"There is no time frame given (for the implementation of the GST)," added Chua.

He argued that in order to get the rakyat to buy into the idea, there must be a systematic plan in place and a constant engagement with the public, something which can only be achieved with a clear timeline of when the new tax will be introduced.

"To implement the GST, you must have a plan and a timetable," Chua stressed.

'Aimed at higher bracket'

The former federal minister stated that the GST will actually good for the rakyat as it is a consumption tax that will target those in a higher tax bracket, who consume more.

campus poll um pro government luxury stay 190906 cafe He also argued that in the new tax system the tax for essential goods and services will be zero rated, giving benefits to the needy while taxing those who spend more and indulge in luxuries.

Commenting further on the timeline for GST, Chua added that in his view the new tax system cannot be implemented before the general election as it will simply open the BN up for further attcks from the opposition.

The much-critised tax system met with massive opposition from the rakyat and opposition leaders when it was first announced by the federal government.

Many claimed that Malaysia is not yet ready to implement the system and that it may end up increasing the people's burden.

Despite announcing a parliamentary bill to impose the new tax system, the government has kept mum over timeline and implementation issues raised by critics, a situation which the opposition was quick to exploit to their advantage in winning the minds of the rakyat.