Malaysia weighs bringing back consumption tax to boost finances, say sources

Free Malaysia Today

They say no decision has been reached given the political sensitivities surrounding the matter.  Read More: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2024/08/28/malaysia-weighs-bringing-back-consumption-tax-to-boost-finances-say-sources/  Free Malaysia Today is an independent, bi-lingual news portal with a focus on Malaysian current affairs.    Subscribe to our channel - http://bit.ly/2Qo08ry   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Check us out at https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com Follow FMT on Facebook: https://bit.ly/49JJoo5 Follow FMT on Dailymotion: https://bit.ly/2WGITHM Follow FMT on X: https://bit.ly/48zARSW  Follow FMT on Instagram: https://bit.ly/48Cq76h Follow FMT on TikTok : https://bit.ly/3uKuQFp Follow FMT Berita on TikTok: https://bit.ly/48vpnQG  Follow FMT Telegram - https://bit.ly/42VyzMX Follow FMT LinkedIn - https://bit.ly/42YytEb Follow FMT Lifestyle on Instagram: https://bit.ly/42WrsUj Follow FMT on WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/49GMbxW  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Download FMT News App: Google Play – http://bit.ly/2YSuV46 App Store – https://apple.co/2HNH7gZ Huawei AppGallery - https://bit.ly/2D2OpNP  #FMTNews #AnwarIbrahim #GST #Tax

Transcript

00:00Malaysia is weighing the return of a broad-based consumption tax instead of implementing subsidy

00:08cuts for a commonly used gasoline as the government seeks to bolster its finances, according to

00:14people familiar with the matter.

00:17They said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's cabinet has been discussing the viability

00:20of bringing back the goods and services tax, but no decision has been reached given the

00:25political sensitivities, Bloomberg reported.

00:29There is an emerging view in the government that imposing the GST may be politically easier

00:33than removing subsidies for the popular raw 95 petrol, as Malaysians consider cheap petrol

00:39to be a necessity, the people said.

00:42Anwar has reasoned to be cautious in bringing back the GST, which was first introduced by

00:47former leader Najib Razak back in 2015 at 6%, and partly led to his downfall in elections

00:53three years later.

00:55While Anwar has said as recently as May that there were no plans to introduce new taxes,

01:00the people said there has been a shift within the government given stronger-than-expected

01:04economic growth and a cut in diesel subsidies in June, adding to coffers.

01:10The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development on Tuesday urged Malaysia

01:14to reintroduce the GST at a low rate while compensating low-income households with targeted

01:19saying in a report that Malaysia's tax revenue accounts for only 12% of GDP.

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