Govt collects more than RM400 million in digital service tax

KUALA LUMPUR: The government has so far collected RM428.07 million from digital service providers since enforcement of the Digital Services Tax early this year, said Deputy Finance Minister I Datuk Abd Rahim Bakri.

He said the tax was imposed on, among others, Netflix, Amazon, advertisements on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, as well as applications and games on smartphones.

"This is a new source of revenue for the country and will be enhanced in the future. This collection is not only imposed on local digital service providers, but we have also started efforts to impose the tax on foreign digital service providers," he added.

He said this when winding up the debate on the Service Tax (Amendment) Bill 2020 at the Dewan Negara today.

The issue on the Digital Services Tax was raised by Senator N. Balasubramaniam.

On the Goods and Services Tax (GST) refund, Abd Rahim said that most of the claims had been reimbursed, with about RM1.87 billion not paid yet as there were some matters that need to be resolved.

Apart from that, he said, the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (JKDM) always carried out field audits in an effort to ensure that taxpayers pay the proper amount of taxes and avoid leaks.

The method also ensures that the government can collect the actual tax amount, he added.

-- BERNAMA