he Royal Malaysian Customs Department has identified more than 5,000 companies involved in fraud over payments of GST

Customs identifies over 5,000 firms cheating on GST

NATION


Saturday, 20 Jan 20182:02 PM MYT



PUTRAJAYA: The Royal Malaysian Customs Department has identified more than 5,000 companies involved in fraud over payments of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) since it was implemented on April 1, 2015.

Customs director-general Datuk Seri T. Subromaniam (pic) said the department had also opened investigation papers against all the companies involved, with some already charged in court.

"These are the hardcore ones, not lacking in understanding GST because such people (those who don't understand), we don't charge in court.

"These hardcore companies which have collected GST, don't pay up and also cheat," he told reporters after the 1Malaysia Customs Charity Cycling (KAK1M) event here Saturday.


"In order to reduce fraud, we have also introduced the GST Ambassador programme.

"Initially, many companies did not understand it, that's why we've taken a more friendly approach," he said.

Subromaniam said, as at Dec 31, 2017, 465,000 companies had registered for GST, exceeding the initial target of 200,000 companies.

He said Customs had set a GST collection target of RM43bil for this year, up by RM1bil from the figure in 2017.

"However, we believe we can achieve more than that. Last year, we reached the Government's target of RM42bil and the actual figure will be announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on Jan 24," he said.

On KAK1M, Subromaniam said the event, held simultaneously nationwide, was aimed at promoting a healthy lifestyle and providing opportunities for the public to interact with Customs.

The department also donated RM100,000 raised from the event, to the Down Syndrome Association of Malaysia. – Bernama


Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/01/20/customs-identifies-over-5000-firms-cheating-on-gst/#elzpIhHRMxTHTMYq.99