Wee: Drop in prices shows govt collected ‘hidden’ tax

PETALING JAYA: The drop in petrol prices showed that the Pakatan Harapan government has quietly collected petrol taxes for the past few months, said MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

“Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng accused me of lying when I said that the government collected about 30 sen tax per litre as the real cost is RM1.90 per litre compared to RM2.20 per litre on Thursday.

“Lim just announced that RON95 petrol will see a reduction of 27 sen from RM2.20 per litre to RM1.93, but this is including the increase in profit margin for petrol operators some 2.81 sen for RON95 petrol.

“This means the petrol tax collected by the Pakatan government was at 29.81 sen per litre, which is almost 30 sen, and Lim had accused me of lying,” said Dr Wee in a statement.

On Thursday, Lim rubbished allegations that the government had collected “hidden” petrol tax for the past two months, saying RM4.89bil worth of petrol was subsidised in the first 11 months of last year.

Lim revealed that for November alone, RM4.1mil was spent to subsidise RON95 and the diesel subsidy was RM209.1mil.

He said the government subsidised RON95 petrol and diesel in November albeit at a lower cost than previous months.

Lim added that the government had neither profited from retail petrol pump prices nor imposed a sales tax on RON95 or diesel.

Dr Wee said among other factors that pushed the Pakatan-led government to lower petrol prices was due to the strong pressure from the opposition and the request made by a former PKR MP.

“Everyone mentioned that the petrol prices should be about RM1.90 per litre and the 30 sen figure was made based on the RM2.20 to RM1.90 formula.

“The request was for a reduction of 30 sen and we already saw it decreased by 30 sen.

“This is not like Tabung Harapan fund donors where those who can afford it give. This is like the rakyat having no choice,” said Dr Wee.