KOTA KINABALU: Relevant government departments and agencies are asked to intensify efforts to jointly inform and explain the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which will be enforced on April 1 next year.
Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said all strata of the community must understand the impact and benefits that could be obtained from the GST implementation.
“The people needed to know GST can only be imposed by traders who have registered with the Customs Department and we, as consumers, must always protect and defend our rights from being expolited by unscrupulous traders.
“The government will take appropriate steps to ensure traders do not take advantage by using the GST as an excuse to hike prices to reap excessive profits,” he said when officiating the ‘GST and You’ seminar, organised by the National Institute of Public Administration (Intan), Sabah campus here yesterday.
He said issues relating to GST were also constantly being exploited by certain quarters, such as the opposition that tried to influence the people’s thinking for their own political interests without considering its benefits to the country.
Musa, who is also state Finance Minister, said the GST would not burden the people, especially the low and medium income groups.
The GST would not be imposed on goods and services that were the people’s basic needs such as basic food, public transport, hospitals, clinics and education.
On the seminar, he hoped the participants would be able to better understand the GST and act as the government’s agents by disseminating accurate information on GST to their co-workers, family members, neighbours and the community. — Bernama