Enlightening students on Goods and Services Tax

On 31 October 2022, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Price Services Talk, which was organised by UTAR Centre for Foundation Studies (CFS), was held at UTAR Sungai Long Campus. The main objective of the talk was to educate students on taxation in Malaysia and its importance.

Dr Appadu

Invited to give the talk was Chartered Accountant Dr Appadu Rao Santhariah. He started by explaining the types of taxation, “There are three types of taxes, which are direct, indirect and non-tax revenue. Direct taxes involve individuals, companies, petroleum, stamp duty and real property gains, while indirect taxes are sales tax, service tax, and export/import duties. On the other hand, non-tax revenues refer to things like licenses and permits.”

The talk continued with Dr Appadu explaining GST to the students. “GST was first implemented in 2015 but abolished in 2018. GST is a consumption tax; it is charged in everything you purchase for daily use, not on a person or company’s salary and profits,” said Dr Appadu. He added, “GST was formed and implemented as a means of combating financial budget deficits. Not to mention, since everyone spends money when buying daily essential items, it plays a part in helping to tax the cash economy.”

Finally, Dr Appadu shared the advantages and disadvantages of GST. He said, “Even though many people were against the implementation of GST, there were actually many advantages to it. First of all, it is internationally known and many countries have also implemented it. It is also less risky in terms of revenue leakage. Meanwhile, some of the disadvantages of GST are the additional compliance costs on Share Margin Financing (SMF), the regression compliance burden on Malaysian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), and its effect on B40 families in Malaysia.”

Dr Appadu giving his lecture to the students

Participants listening attentively to Dr Appadu



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