Govt to adopt 'tax only when necessary' approach, says Anwar

The Star

The government will take a "tax when only necessary" approach when it comes to policies and reforms, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.  Speaking at the opening of the National Tax Conference 2023 in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday (Aug 1), the Prime Minister said while the government needs taxes to ensure the development of the nation, it must not become a burden to the rakyat or companies.  Read more at https://tinyurl.com/mx9a9ep2  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00 Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the respected Dato Sri Anwar bin Ibrahim.

00:04 Ladies and gentlemen, I alluded to earlier the need to undertake major changes to ensure that our performance is drastically improved.

00:23 I've referred to reformers, earlier reformers like Abdul Rahman Ibn Khaldun in his magnum opus, the Muqaddimah,

00:33 and the Northern Song dynasty reformer Wang Anshe, who made it a clear remark that taxation is necessary,

00:48 but never overtaxed, and it should never be seen as a burden to the people.

00:54 So I think that principle we must adopt.

00:58 The changes that we will have to take, including in the forthcoming budget,

01:05 will be clearly formulated based on these sound principles.

01:10 Taxation is only when necessary, and it should never be seen as a burden to the public and the business community.

01:20 Because it is our intention to ensure that investors, be it foreign or domestic,

01:28 see this as an opportunity to enter into a business enterprise that would reward them.

01:39 At the same time, to instill this sense of belonging, sense of responsibility,

01:47 consistent with the modern day concept that you have a role to the family, to the society, and to the nation.

01:56 And there are others who have been deprived and marginalized,

02:00 which have not had this opportunity to be able to compete or even survive as a nation.

02:10 And this is clearly formulated in the economy madani, empowering the people,

02:17 or empowering the people. And again, I need to reiterate the point that LHD and hasil has a major responsibility in this regard.

02:30 You are entrusted with the task of ensuring that the government finances is sound,

02:38 not to be abused, not to be spent on luxury items, and to be taken for granted by leaders

02:46 who hold office, and we have seen this track record in this country in the past,

02:51 where positions of power is an opportunity to amass personal wealth and enrich the family members or clonies.

03:02 So it is therefore pertinent that we work as a family committed to some ideals and principles.

03:11 And this is to me clearly what we have learned, what we need to learn.

03:17 Current issues that must be addressed, rising living costs of the people.

03:24 Of course, not only in the last 8 months, but earlier.

03:29 There have been some initiatives, but this administration has given a lot of attention.

03:39 First, to ensure that we have good governance. We must rid this country of endemic corruption.

03:46 We can collect the total financial, as much as possible, but if the governance issue is not resolved,

03:54 too many leakages. You spend 22 billion ringgit to have the rakyat, and we have leakages all around.

04:05 5-6 billion, go on haywire. We can approve contracts, whether it's flood mitigation, or jana wibawa, whatever,

04:16 and yet, funds have been siphoned off. Now this has to stop, and must stop now.

04:27 And mind you, I will not, this administration will not compromise. It does not matter.

04:35 As I have said earlier, whether you are a minister, you are a toon, you are a tansri, you respect the law,

04:42 or we will have to go after you.

04:44 [Applause]

04:48 [Silence]

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