KUALA LUMPUR: A group of parents are up in arms over what they claim to be unlawful collection of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in some Chinese schools.

The parents, through Persatuan Jaringan Ibu Bapa Pencinta Pendidikan Bahasa Zhong Hua, claimed that the latest case was at SJK(C) Tun Tan Siew Sin in Subang Jaya.

The association’s adviser, Edward Neoh Chuan Tat, speaking on behalf of the parents, said it had received a letter from the school dated Jan 23 informing parents that they needed to pay RM14 for Bahasa Malaysia extra classes and RM22 for teaching and learning courseware, including six per cent GST.

“We find it strange because the school is not registered for GST and educational institutions are exempt from the tax.

“Where would that money go?” He said this was not the first case of Chinese schools collecting GST.

“In May 2015, a complaint on three schools were lodged with the Customs Department.“The department raided two of the schools and the money was given back to parents.”

The schools were SJK(C) Puay Chai 2 in Bandar Utama, SJK(C) Lai Meng and SJK(C) Yuk Chai here.A new complaint has been lodged at the Customs Department branch office at the Old Putra Association building.

“We have submitted a complaint, and the Customs Department will investigate the matter,” Neoh said.

Deputy Education Minister Datuk P. Kamalanathan advised the public to lodge a complaint to ensure investigations could be carried out.

the source : www.nst.com.my

MIRI: Diabetes Malaysia National (DMN) has submitted a memorandum to Ministry of Finance, requesting the government to waive the six per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) on diabetes testing equipment often used by diabetic patients.

Vice president Jong Koi Chong told The Borneo Post yesterday that the request was due to the drastic rise in prices of medical equipment, which has severely burdened their members who are also diabetic.

“We have submitted the memorandum, hoping that they would take into consideration the needs of diabetic patients, and that they would include it into the 2018 Budget,” Jong said.

PETALING JAYA: The Customs Department has launched its latest compliance drive, seeking to collect RM3bil in unpaid Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Its director-general Datuk Seri Khazali Ahmad (pic) said the drive, called Customs Blue Operations Strategy (CBOS) 3.0, aims to collect twice the amount collected in its second operation conducted last year.

CBOS 3.0 will see the department taking a friendlier approach, by educating companies on “Informed Compliance” instead of punishing them through “Enforced Compliance,” he said.

Khazali said 600 officers from the Customs Department's GST, Compliance and Enforcement divisions would take part in the door-to-door operations.

They will visit 200,000 of the 434,000 GST-registered premises during CBOS 3.0 that runs until Dec 31, he told reporters after the launch at the Customs Complex in Kelana Jaya here on Monday.

Companies found behind in their payments or paperwork will be given one month, from the date of the visit, to comply.

“This isn’t to be mistaken as an offer of amnesty. We will not compromise with companies that are collecting GST but not remitting it to us,” Khazali said.

Those that fail to comply could face legal action and be fined for up to 40% of their unpaid dues.

It was reported that Customs targets to collect up to RM42bil in GST this year, compared with RM41.2bil in 2016.

the source :  www.thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s unpopular goods and service tax (GST) has been declared a success by the country’s Customs Department, which hopes to exceed its first year collection target of RM27 billion (S$9 billion).

The department’s deputy director-general Subromaniam Tholasy said it has “slightly” exceeded its 2015 target but the total amount collected will be announced by the prime minister.

Mr Subromaniam said the department is also expected to achieve a GST collection target of RM39 billion for 2016 based on its success in 2015.

Two big reasons for the higher collection he said were the higher number of firms that have registered for GST implementation and the number of businesses in the “hidden market” which have registered, he said.

GEORGE TOWN, Feb 26 — DAP’s Lim Guan Eng today expressed shock over Putrajaya’s move to block access to news portal The Malaysian Insider (TMI) and called for this decision to be revoked.

The Penang lawmaker said the ban was unacceptable as no specific reason was given for the decision.

“I want to urge the federal government to revoke this ban, they should ban GST, don’t ban TMI,” he said, referring to the Goods and Services Tax (GST).