YOURSAY ‘Najib, it’s also the best time to cut your expenses.’

Now is the best time to implement GST, says PM

Telestai!: There is no such thing as the best time to implement the goods and services tax (GST).

 

I accept that GST is a must for a developed country to widen its tax base to ensure the government will not be overly dependent on income tax and petroleum tax.

 

To start with, Malaysia has a reasonably low effective income tax rate and having GST will encourage the people to earn more and spend less, thus boosting savings.

 

It is nevertheless a good time for the PM to cut his extravagant travel expenses.

 

Well Thats Fantastic: Every single sen that GST injects into the supply chain will be passed on down the line to the consumer. If you think the prices of basic food and goods, such as medicines, etc, won't increase, you have been seriously infected with government brainwashing.

 

Also once the law is in place and working, they can often change the rules - 6 percent today could be 20 percent tomorrow, or to include currently excluded items with a simple say so from the PM/finance minister.

 

GST only empowers government to take more. There is nothing to force government to be more responsible in spending our hard-earned money, so the wastage will continue.

 

The GST system is a good system IF the government of the day was doing its job properly and not wasting so much of the tax money collected.

 

No, now is not a good time to implement GST. It will only be right when the rakyat see that the government is doing the right thing, otherwise all you will find is resistance and no amount of BN cybertoopers can change that.

 

Sa Tombs: Has PM Najib Razak been to the local markets just to see how the prices of goods have spiraled up?

 

It does not make much difference for the average Malaysian that petrol prices have come down. The prices of items which were increased have failed to come down. So, what savings are you talking about?

 

Even the courts have quadrupled their fees, for example, the deposit to Court of Appeal has gone up from RM500 to RM2,000. So what is Najib talking about?

 

Donplaypuks: Indeed, this is cockamamie and cock-eyed logic. When the main income of our country - from oil - is set to decrease by 60 percent due to drop in price from US$100 to US$40 per barrel, we are looking at a possible recession.

 

It's a time to tighten our belt and spend less. Yet this pretender of an economist believes this is the best time for the rakyat to go out and splurge?

 

And why has the PM not ordered Tenaga Nasional Bhd to reduce its tariff immediately since, by the way, it will end up making super profits with falling oil prices?

 

Opah: The government imposes import permits on more than 8,000 kinds of goods, including motor vehicles, sugar, cement, goats, steel bars and so forth.

 

Instead of the government collecting full revenue from these permits, it gives them away to highly favoured individuals who make windfall profits from them.

 

This system has created a small number of Umno-blessed multi-millionaires while making domestic prices high for everyone.

 

Now that the government's revenues from oil and gas have been slashed, it needs to raise money from other sources. The permit holders cannot be touched, so GST is Umno's chosen way of raising funds.

 

Every Malaysian must endure high prices and higher taxes in order for the Umnoputras to continue to live their high-flying lifestyle.

 

Mushiro: My savings with the lower fuel price is about RM22 per month. With GST, I estimate additional expense of about RM250 per month.

 

Lower fuel has not brought down the price of goods - another government failure to control prices. Lower fuel price has caused loss of jobs not only in the oil and gas sectors but also in other sectors. The east coast floods have also affected the economies of other states.

 

Najib's statement that the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and National Key Results Areas (NKRA) have reduced dependency on oil revenue is not supported by facts. Hence implementing GST now is not a right move.

 

Swipenter: Everyone experiences the price increase when the petrol prices go up, ranging from electricity tariffs to a cup of coffee, but there is no corresponding decrease in prices of these essential goods when the opposite happens. Even wet market traders do not decrease nor adjust their prices.

 

In fact, we are seeing price increases in many essential goods and necessities because of our weaker ringgit. Now tell us what would be the scenario come April 1 when GST is implemented?

 

Japanese businesses and consumers are still struggling with their existing ei percent GST and their government has to postpone increasing it to 10 percent to a later date.

 

Singapore took many years to gradually implement its GST so as not to burden the consumers. No one is anti-GST but only against corruption, wastage, leakages and imprudent spending of our taxes.

 

Dalvik: In the first place, what made our national coffers run dry? This is a question that the regime should ask in the first place, instead of looking for more ways to tax the people.

 

This is like an obese person seeking help to lose weight, but doesn't change his or her eating habits.

 

The regime won't feel the pain as they are not really affected - for example, do they even have to pay GST if they use government jets for personal holidays?

 

Ask any ordinary citizen on the street - has their spending power increased in the past 10 years? If not, why can't we even compete with Singapore, which doesn't even have oil revenue to rely on in the first place?

 

GST is not the panacea to this country's problems. The government can introduce another 10 new taxes. But if the mentality of the regime hasn't changed - i.e. condoning leakages and wastage (yes, it's another form of indirect corruption) - GST and other new taxes will only increase the 'spending limits' for these corrupt people.

 

Gordon Gecko: I was at my favourite mamak stall yesterday. Spoke to the stall owner as to why he hasn't reduced the price of teh tarik despite the fall in oil prices.

 

His reply, "GST mah." All the economics ‘mumbo jumbo’ on GST is lost on the layman and business owner. As the current joke goes, the only thing that has fallen is rain drops.

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