Najib: BN had warned about dangers of changing tax system
KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak said Barisan Nasional had warned about the dangers of changing a taxation system as it can have a big impact on the price of goods.
The former prime minister said this was because the price of goods had not reduced as expected after the Goods and Services Tax was zerorated, despite it being Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) “selling point” before the 14th General Election.
He expressed concern that the reintroduction of the Sales and Services Tax (SST) in September would bring negative impact on the prices of goods, which could go up higher than before.
“I was taken aback this morning when I read a statement by a Pakatan Harapan (PH) minister, who admitted that the GST was not the main reason behind the rising prices of goods, despite this being their main source of ammunition against the government before the election.
“At the time, PH did not accept our answer. In fact, PH ridiculed it. And now, it has to accept the reality behind its own accusations.
“This is the danger when taxation systems are changed at will, and BN had warned of this before GE14.
“This will impact the rakyat’s cost of living and it goes against PH’s promise of reducing the cost of living in its manifesto.
“I hope it will do something to ensure that these concerns won’t become reality,” he said on his Facebook account.
He was commenting on a statement by Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Saifuddin Nasution in Malaysiakini, in which he said the public had yet to feel the full effects of the GST’s zerorating.
Saifuddin was quoted as saying that prices of consumer goods appeared to be stagnant because the drop was only between 0.04 per cent to 13 per cent, and had not achieved a 30 to 40 per cent reduction. They also only involved 417 items, which included wet and dry goods, as well as baby products, he added.