The government has collected almost RM1.7 billion from Goods and Services Tax (GST) on taxable imports up till May 10.

"The amount of tax collected from imports from April 1 to May 10 is RM1.689 billion.

"This data was known early because payments were made before imported goods were released by Customs at ports, borders or at the airports," Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan ( photo ) told the Dewan Rakyat today.

The government however does not yet have the figures for GST collected on domestic spending.

This is because businesses earning more than RM5 million a year will only be submitting their GST returns this month, while those earning less than RM5 million per annum will be submitting once every three months, with the first filing due by July 31.

"(This means) Customs will only know exactly the tax revenue collected for April, May and June on August 1," Ahmad said.

The GST was implemented on April 1 at a rate of six percent.