GST not for Sabah, Sarawak, the poorest in Malaysia

by Joe Fernandez

CAMPAIGN In 2012, Putrajaya collected RM 17.88 billion in oil revenue and RM 24 billion in federal taxes and revenues from Sabah.

In the same year, Putrajaya collected RM 35 billion in oil revenue alone from Sarawak.

Yet, the World Bank issued a Report in Dec 2010 that the two Borneo nations in Malaysia were the poorest in the Federation. Sabah is the poorest.

Timing is important for a consumerism campaign to get Putrajaya to exclude Sabah and Sarawak from GST.

Originally, the Government was talking about 3 per cent GST, then 4, 5 & now Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Idris Jala is hinting at 7 per cent like in Singapore.

We have to wait until the Government starts explaining GST to the people again before we ask for exclusion by pointing to the chronic state of under development in Sabah and Sarawak , highest poverty levels, higher cost of living, lower standard of living, and inequitable distribution of income seen in the huge gap between the haves and have-nots, between the urban and rural areas, and between the interior and the rest of the Territories.

Kota Kinabalu is not Sabah, as the World Bank pointed out. Kuching is not Sarawak.

To say that personal and corporate taxes will be reduced to pave the way for GST is meaningless for Sabah and Sarawak.

The business sector is noted for not passing on any reductions in taxes and prices, for eg. fuel, to the consumer.

At the same time, they are quick to raise consumer prices when fuel and sugar prices, shipping costs and wages increase.

The National Cabotage Policy is a killer! It’s sabotage. The policy has made Sabah and Sarawak uncompetitive destinations for investment.

A friend sent me the following:

GST IS A DUMB IDEA FOR POOR PEOPLE AS SEEN FROM THE AUSTRALIAN EXAMPLE.

IT made everything so expensive and 95% of people cannot claim back the tax as they are not entitled unless they are a registered business.

Sometimes the tax is included in other added taxes... on example is if you bought a house (normally exempted) which has a GST component this is not excluded from stamp duty calculation. So you get taxed twice!

Also if you bill your tenant for outgoings like Council Rates (non GST taxable) you have paid, you have to add GST. And the tenant pays GST on that bill.

For centuries, taxes have been put on legitimately imported sales items already. When they are sold GST is added and again this seems like double tax.

So it does not make sense in relevant cases.