PUTRAJAYA: The Government is conducting a series of awareness programmes to ensure the smooth implementation of the goods and services tax (GST), said Finance Ministry tax review panel chairman Datuk Kamariah Hussain.

“We have conducted about 2,000 awareness programmes covering more than 100,000 participants.

“Our programmes are organised by the Ministry of Finance and other government agencies as well as SME Corp and the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers, among others,” she said.

She was speaking to StarBiz on the sidelines of a tax forum organised by KPMG Malaysia and International Tax and Investment Centre yesterday.

Kamariah said the Government would appoint a public relations company soon to help it conduct more such programmes including through roadshows, television talk shows and billboard.

She said there would be a GST jingle in the next few months, adding that the Government would conduct surveys to gauge the level of understanding on GST.

Kamariah said a tourist refund scheme would be introduced subsequently but no details were available yet.

She said the Government needed to work on the details of the scheme including the appointment of tourist refund agents, approved outlets and the quantum of refund.

“We hope the private sector will start getting itself ready for the GST by training their staff and updating their systems to be GST-compliant,” Kamariah said.

To a question, she said there was no exact date as to when the GST would be implemented.

She said the GST Bill had been tabled in Parliament last year but the second reading had been postponed to get more feedback from the public and stakeholders.

Guinness Anchor Bhd managing director Charles Ireland believes it is imperative for Malaysia to replace the current sales tax with GST.

He hopes the Government will maintain the current excise tax structure and rates for the duration of the GST.

“Like spirits in Australia, beer in Malaysia is also heavily taxed. At the same time, Malaysia’s per capita income is relatively low.

“Improved tax collection of GST compared to the current sales tax means the Government can collect more revenue even with the current beer and stout excise tax rates unchanged,” Ireland said.

In 2009, the industry paid tax amounting to RM1.46bil with a total economic impact of RM5.6bil, including RM3.2bil in terms of direct sales contribution and a multiplier effect of RM2.4bil, he added.

In his speech at the tax forum, Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai said the GST was an important instrument to broaden the country’s tax base and to help reduce national deficit.

“Our studies have indicated that the new system will help the Government collect an additional RM1bil in the first year of implementation compared with the current sales and service tax model,” he said.

Lim said there would be little impact on consumer price index due to the broader tax base and the inherent nature of the GST.

Currently, about 140 countries have implemented some form of value-added taxations or GST while almost all Asean countries have adopted GST except Malaysia, Brunei and Myanmar.

The Government, Lim said, had been proactive in consulting with the industry, consumers and other key stakeholders before deciding on the best way to implement GST in the interest of transparency and minimal disruption to businesses and society.