The Finance Ministry has been directed to conduct a comprehensive study on a proposed hybrid SST-GST tax system before presenting its findings to the Cabinet.
PETALING JAYA: The Finance Ministry has been given time to conduct a comprehensive study into a proposed hybrid Sales and Service Tax (SST)-Goods and Services Tax (GST) system before the matter is brought back to the Cabinet for further discussion.
Government spokesman Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had directed the Finance Minister II to study the proposal in detail.
He said the proposal remained at an early stage and no timeline or deadline had been set for the study.
“The Prime Minister has informed the Cabinet of the need for the Finance Ministry, particularly the Finance Minister II, to conduct a comprehensive study on the proposed hybrid SST-GST tax system.
“The Finance Minister II has been given some time to prepare a report and bring it back to the Cabinet for further discussion,” he said during his weekly post-Cabinet media briefing today.
Fahmi said the government would not rush the process as the study needed to consider lessons from the previous implementation of GST, as well as issues currently affecting the SST system.
“These matters will be considered by the Finance Ministry before being brought to the Cabinet for discussion and a decision,” he said.
Asked whether Anwar had given the Finance Minister II a specific timeline or deadline, or whether the proposed system would be announced in the upcoming Budget, Fahmi said no such information had been given.
He said the government would wait for the Finance Ministry to complete its assessment before any further decision was made.
