Just be patient, says Guan Eng on details of new taxes

KUALA LUMPUR: Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng has urged the people to "be patient" about the details of new taxes proposed by the government.

"The new tax, wait for two more weeks when Budget (2019) is tabled. I hope you can be patient and wait for two weeks like how others are also waiting," said Lim in response to a supplementary questioned asked by Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob (BN-Bera) who asked for details on the new taxes, the expected revenue from it and the impact on the rakyat.

Budget 2019 will be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat on Nov 2.

Last week, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the government may need to devise new taxes to pay off its debts, which have turned Malaysia from an Asian tiger into a small kitten.

Dr Mahathir said the government was currently faced with the major problem of finding funds to pay off the huge debts left behind by the previous administration.

He said that it had been suggested that the government should introduce new taxes.

"I don't think that is something welcomed by the people but we may have to devise new taxes in order to have the money to pay our debts," he said in his keynote address at a conference "Malaysia: A New Dawn" on Oct 9.

Dr Mahathir said the new tax regime would be different from the Sales and Service Tax (SST) and be less of a burden to the people.