GST collection exceeds 2015 target

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection exceeded the RM27 billion mark set by the government for 2015, said Royal Malaysian Customs Department (Customs) deputy director-general Datuk Subromaniam Tholasy.

He said the exact collection from the new tax regime, implemented on April 1, 2015, would be announced soon by the government.

"For this year, the department has been given the task of raising RM39 billion from the GST and we are confident of achieving the target," he told a press conference on the GST implementation report card here today.

The six percent GST replaced the Sales and Service Tax of 10 percent and six percent, respectively.

The GST implementation is part of the government’s tax reform programme to enhance the capability, effectiveness and transparency of tax administration and management in the country.

On achieving the target set for this year, Subromaniam said the department was taking several initiatives, including compliance, and would send its audit team to verify and work with local businesses.

"There is still a lot of confusion among businesses about the GST implementation. There is still many companies that are still not GST-ready.

"We know there are thousands of companies out there which record an annual turnover exceeding the threshold RM500,000 but they are not registered for the GST with Customs.

"The number will continue to change with the establishment of new companies," he added.

More than 406,000 companies are now registered for the GST.

Subromaniam said Customs was also in the midst of resolving issues relating to the GST claim period for companies.

"For the first month of the GST implementation, we could only refund 17 percent (of total claims) within 14 days, as stipulated by the law, but now, the figure has gone up to 70 percent.

"We have taken many initiatives and measures to achieve these numbers," he said, adding that many European countries take more than two weeks to process claims.