Recently, the Malay Mail Online published on their website about a just-released public opinion survey carried out this month by independent pollster Merdeka Center, 55 per cent of the 1,005 respondents said that they did not understand how the GST worked. Out of the total, 20 per cent of Malaysians said they know nothing about the GST, while 35 per cent said they do not know very much.
On January 2014, there will be a FREE online seminar to share the practical tips about GST implementation and application in both English & Mandarin. Registration page is at http://foundermethod.com/gst-training-malaysia
There are many GST workshops or sessions conducted by accounting firms that are highlighting this issue. However, this online seminar is specially cater for people who are time pressed or geographically isolated to attend physical seminars.
BACKGROUND OF GOODS & SERVICES TAX (GST) MALAYSIA
On 25th of October 2013, Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in Budget 2014 to replace the current sales and services tax, GST will be effective on April, 2015. What it mean to Malaysia Business is that they currently have only less than 16 months to get ready and prepare for GST. And the worrying reality based on a recent survey shows that Malaysians are clueless about GST.
At this moment, Other ASEAN countries that do not implement VAT/GST besides Malaysia are Brunei & Myanmar. Upon implementation of GST in Malaysia, we will join the 146 countries around the world which has GST or VAT. We will also be joining the 7 out of 10 ASEAN countries which have either GST or VAT, detailed list of countries are:-
table source: http://gst.customs.gov.my
WHAT IS GST MALAYSIA?
GST is a consumption tax based on the value-added concept. GST is imposed on goods and services at every production and distribution stage in the supply chain including importation of goods and services. GST is proposed to replace the current consumption tax i.e. the sales tax and service tax (SST). The introduction of GST is part of the Government’s tax reform program.
picture source: http://gst.customs.gov.my
PROPOSED RATE OF GST IN MALAYSIA
Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be implemented with effective from 1 April 2015 and GST rate is fixed at 6 (%) per cent. Sales tax and service tax will be abolished.
Currently, Sales tax and service tax rates are 10% and 6% respectively.
GST will not be imposed on piped water and first 200 units of electricity per month for domestic consumers and Transportation services such as bus, train, LRT, taxi, ferry, boat, highway tolls as well as education and health services are exempted from GST.
For GST Malaysia there are 3 types of supply: standard rated, zero rated and exempt supplies
Standard rated supplies are taxable supplies of goods and services which are subject to the standard rate. Zero rated supplies are taxable supplies which are subject to a zero rate, that is not liable to GST at the output or input stage. Exempt supplies are non taxable supplies which are not subject to GST at the output stage that is, when supplied to the consumer. However, the GST paid on input by the businesses cannot be claimed as tax credit
The website of the Royal Malaysian Customs Department offers comprehensive information about GST. However, there are many Malaysian business owners who still have many questions in mind, for example: –
- Transitional Issues for business owners
- Preparation Work for GST
- What Accounting softwares to use for GST
- Where and when application for GST registration can be made?
- What are the measures undertaken by the government to assist the SMEs during the GST implementation?
- Do all businesses need to be registered under GST?
- What benefits do businesses get from GST?
- How does GST really work in your business ?
If you want to find out those answers, do register & attend this online seminar to engage directly with the expert of GST at http://foundermethod.com/gst-training-malaysia