Clearer guidelines needed on GST claims, councils tell Customs

Abdul Hamid believes that the statement that all the claims MPAJ made cannot be paid back because all RM5mil are made up of false claims, is inaccurate. - Filepic

AMPANG Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) has called on the Customs Department to lay down detailed guidelines for local authorities regarding Good and Services Tax (GST) claims to avoid misunderstandings.

MPAJ president Abdul Hamid Abdul Hussain said this in response to a statement by Customs director-general Datuk Seri T. Subromaniam that there were discrepancies in claims on GST returns by all 12 Selangor local authorities.

In the news report on July 25, entitled ‘Customs Denies Owing Millions to Selangor Local Councils’, Subromaniam said some claims were unfounded, while some were not allowed under the law.

“MPAJ submitted a claim for a reimbursement of RM5mil in GST paid, which has not been refunded to MPAJ,” said Abdul Hamid.

“We do not deny that from the RM5mil claims we made for GST returns, not 100% may be accurate.

“But I believe the statement that all the claims MPAJ made cannot be paid back because all RM5mil are made up of false claims, is inaccurate.

“So what we can say here is that from the RM5mil we claimed, there may be some mistakes that we did not intentionally make but are in a grey area that is unclear to us as the party collecting and claiming for returns.

Mohd Sayuthi said MPKj had met with Customs to revise their submissions and since then, there was no more issue. - Filepic