PUTRAJAYA, Aug 18 — The government will study a proposal to combine the Goods and Services Tax (GST) with the Sales and Service Tax (SST) to ensure a more progressive tax system, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Anwar, who is also finance minister, said Malaysia would retain the SST as the national system, though certain acceptable features from the GST would be considered.
“I do not want a tax that broadly affects the entire population, which was the fundamental premise of the GST,” he told the media while attending the Budget 2027 engagement session closing here today.
Anwar emphasised that the GST system would affect all segments of society, including those facing economic hardship.
“Although some argue that this (the GST) is (more) efficient, it is ultimately a tax on the people, meaning those who have never paid taxes before would be required to do so. How can we justify this in the current climate? Given the cost of living, it would become a burden on the rakyat,” he said.
Budget 2027, themed “Malaysia Madani: Reaching for the Skies, Rooted in Earth”, will be tabled in Parliament on October 9.
Also present at today’s session were Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan, Deputy Finance Minister Liew Chin Tong, Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Johan Mahmood Merican, Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Datuk Seri Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour, secretaries-general, heads of service, senior government officials, representatives from industries, associations, and NGOs, and economic figures and scholars.
