F&B sector mostly ignorant on GST, says ACCIM

The food and beverages (F&B) sector has been found to be the most ignorant on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to be implemented next year in April, says the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM).

Its National Council Member Koong Lin Loong said most F&B industry players do not understand the terms in the GST, the first action to be taken, and the employee and software preparation for GST implementation.

"It is worrying that even though we have been carrying out numerous talks and awareness programmes since five years ago, no F&B representatives have attended because they regard this as one of the taxes they need to pay.

"Statistics also show that the sector does not use e-Banking at all, and 78 per cent of them, according to our survey, have no plan to use it," Koong told the media at the release of the ACCCIM 2014 SME Survey Report here today.

The survey, which drew 541 respondents, was conducted through ACCIM's 17 constituent chambers in different sectors and regions of the country from June 28 to July 30 this year.

It aimed to understand the problems faced by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) on issues related to minimum wages, GST and e-Payment.

Koong, who is also chairman of ACCIM's SMEs and Human Resource Development Committee, said SMEs must know that the GST is a transaction-based system that has nothing to do with their profit and loss, adding they need to register and know how to implement and operate the GST system.

Koong expressed hope that the Royal Malaysian Customs Department could provide specific training for each industry sector particularly on how to operate on a GST-registered basis and the do's and don'ts.

"There is no point in registering with the Customs if the SMEs don't know what they need to do, such as whether they need to hire accountants," he said.