Umno Youth chief Datuk Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh has urged the government to immediately reinstate the Goods and Services Tax (GST), arguing that the system is more transparent and efficient than the current Sales and Services Tax (SST).
He said the figures available today clearly showed that revenue collected under the abolished GST system was significantly better.
“If even a DAP representative has dared to mention GST, why is PMX still afraid of these three letters?
“But it’s okay, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Umno Youth thanks you. There is nothing wrong with turning back when we eventually return to the right path.
“Even if you want to call it Madani Tax, go ahead. We are not like the Opposition during your time. If something is good, we support it. If it is not good, we will oppose it wholeheartedly,” he said.
Muhamad Akmal was speaking during his policy speech at the Umno Youth General Assembly at the World Trade Centre (WTC) here on Thursday.
Also present were Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, vice-president Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin and PAS Youth chief Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamudden.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was previously reported as saying that the government was open to studying the possibility of combining SST and GST elements to improve the country’s tax system and make it more progressive.
Anwar said the government needed to consider the strengths of both systems and adapt them to current circumstances.
Muhamad Akmal said the government’s willingness to study a system incorporating the best elements of both tax mechanisms showed that the “door had begun to open”.
“If the door was once firmly shut but is now being opened little by little, what else can it be called other than a change in position?
“And most recently, Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng from DAP himself suggested that GST should be brought back if it proves to be more effective than SST,” he said.
Muhamad Akmal said Lim had also argued that the government did not need to create a complicated hybrid system simply to avoid using the name GST.
