PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has instructed the Finance Ministry to conduct a comprehensive study on the proposed hybrid taxation system that combines the current Sales and Service Tax (SST) with the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Government spokesperson Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil said Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan had been tasked with leading the study and preparing a report for the Cabinet.
“This is still at an early stage, and the Finance Ministry has been given time because this is not something that can be done hastily.
“It involves lessons from the implementation of the GST system as well as issues faced under the current SST system.
“These matters will therefore be considered by the Finance Ministry before they are brought to the Cabinet for a decision,” he said at a post-Cabinet meeting press conference here yesterday.
On Tuesday, Anwar said the government is open to incorporating certain GST elements into the SST as part of efforts to develop a more progressive tax system.
“We are open to studying ways to improve the tax system. But if we are talking about GST alone, my concern, as I have said repeatedly, is that it would mean taxing the people,” said Anwar, who is also the Finance Minister.
He did not mention any particular time frame for the study to be completed.
Meanwhile, Fahmi, who is also Communications Minister, said 127,568 scam-related online content items had been flagged for removal as of yesterday, with Facebook accounting for 53% and TikTok 39%.
He said the flagged content included false claims, such as announcements of additional Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (Sara) payments purportedly issued by the Finance Ministry.
Fahmi said fake accounts remained a major problem, particularly in scams, as they could be easily created and used to spread false information rapidly.
On another matter, Anwar has directed TalentCorp, an agency under the Human Resources Ministry, to give a report on the applications it has received involving local doctors who want to return to Malaysia to serve.
Fahmi said the review followed several matters raised by the Malaysian Medical Council with Anwar.
“The Prime Minister has asked the Human Resources Ministry to report back to the Cabinet on one of the agencies under the ministry, TalentCorp, particularly regarding the status of applications received, the processing period, how many have been approved and how many rejected, including applications involving local doctors who want to return to Malaysia to serve.”
Aside from that, Fahmi said the Cabinet did not discuss Anwar’s remarks on Taiwan, which drew a strong rebuke from Taipei.
“It was not discussed,” he said when asked about a statement issued by Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry yesterday in response to Anwar’s remarks carried in a pre-recorded interview with Al Jazeera broadcast on Sunday.
In the interview, Anwar expressed support for the One China policy and said historical factors should be considered when examining Taiwan’s relationship with China.
