‘Ensure no profiteering during transition period’

PETALING JAYA: The authorities have been urged to monitor prices of goods to check profiteering during the transition period until Sales and Service Tax (SST) is reintroduced.

Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers ( FMM) president Datuk Soh Thian Lai said yesterday the Government should strictly enforce the Price Control and AntiProfiteering Act 2011 once the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is zerorated.

He added that during the “tax holiday” period, goods should be cheaper and volume consumption should increase.

It was reported that Malaysians will have a “tax holiday” that will see a gap between the time GST is zerorated at the start of June and when SST is brought back.

Tun Daim Zainuddin, head of the Council of Eminent Persons (CEP), said SST would be introduced in two to three months, giving consumers the chance to enjoy goods at a reduced rate in the interim.

Some businesses have already put up 6% discount offers.

“The Government should make it clear when is the exact effective date of SST as businesses need time before it is implemented,” he said.

He also said it may be necessary for businesses to review recent contracts that had 6% GST factored in.

Malay Businessmen and Industrialists Association of Malaysia vice president Datuk Sohaimi Shahadan said a holistic mechanism is needed to implement SST.

“The Government must not only engage with business players, but also explain to the people what is going to happen,” he added.

In Johor Baru, retailers said they welcomed the decision to zerorate GST as it will help boost sales but asked if there would be a reimbursement of the 6% GST they had already paid to suppliers.

“Zerorating is a good move as we have experienced slow sales since the introduction of GST on April 1, 2015,” said Kahseng Electronics proprietor Sia Siew Kei, who said business at her electrical appliance shop in Taman Perling here had declined by 20% since then.

Sia said small businesses like hers were forced to pay suppliers GST in advance in order to receive stock.

“For RM300,000 stock of electrical items, we have to fork out RM18,000 GST beforehand, which is a burden.

“We can only recover the 6% that was paid in advance if we are able to sell the products,” she said.

Caring Pharmacy pharmacist Hafiz Mus wanted to know if the Government would reimburse retailers for the GST paid in advance to suppliers. Hafiz said customers might lodge complaints if retailers still charge them GST from June 1.

He hoped the authorities could give retailers options to recover the 6% advance GST paid to suppliers.

Johor Indian Muslim Entrepreneurs Association (Perusim) secretary Hussein Ibrahim said Malaysians had become very priceconscious since the introduction of GST.

Hussein said Perusim members who operated 24hour restaurants in Johor had been absorbing GST for the past three years, a fact not many customers knew.

“We do not want to lose customers as they will run way if we increase our teh tarik or roti canai by even 10 sen,” he said.

A good move as we have experienced slow sales since the introduction of GST. Sia Siew Kei, retailer