MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
PETALING JAYA: Revive the goods and services tax (GST) to generate a source of income for the country, Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong urges.
In a Facebook post on Friday (Sept 1), the MCA president has made three proposals for the Budget 2024. First of all, he had asked for the revival of the GST.
"I have repeated many times for the government to bring back the GST.
“We cannot be talking about spending and expenditure (only) in the Budget without any source of income. Bring back the GST,” he reiterated.
Dr Wee said the tax, if reimplemented, could be reduced from 6% to 4%.
"We can (also) have zero rated, an exemption list and enable cash handout while improving the mechanism," he added.
He went on to raise the concern from micro, small and medium enterprises, who are facing the worst effects from the imbalance cost pass-through (ICPT), which saw the electricity tariff adjustment and the increase of employees' maternity leave from 60 to 98 days.
He called for the government to lower the ICPT, as those in the industry would have to suffer the consequences from higher expenses, higher cost and longer maternity leave.
“The government should help these employers because it would not be possible for them to bear it all.
“The next would be simplifying the process of hiring workers especially for the 3D (dirty, dangerous and difficult) sector,” he added.
On his third suggestion, the Ayer Hitam MP said the individual tax exemption of RM9,000 should be increased to RM12,000 due to the inflation rate.
By doing so, the M40 and T20 groups would have room to breathe, he said.
He added if these two groups of people do have any disposable income to spend, the businesses would not run.
“If they spend more, it will have a multiplier effect. When a nasi lemak seller earns an additional RM100, she can buy cucumber, anchovies and other supplies.
“So, the RM100 can be multiplied to become RM1,000. This is what we want to see in terms of economic impacts on various levels of society,” he said.
Dr Wee also urged the government to refer back to the New Economic Model for Malaysia that was published in 2010 in planning for Budget 2024.
"Despite being 13-year-old, the model has the SRIs (8 Strategic Reform Initiatives) with clear strategic policy direction," he added.
He prayed that Malaysia would prosper and emerge stronger in terms of economic growth, unlike the 2.9% growth recorded in the second quarter.
