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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