PETALING JAYA, 18 Dec: PKR de facto leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, stressed that the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) by the BN Government will not help reduce the country’s outflow of illegal money.
He said that the GST would not have a significant bearing on the problem of money laundering, especially in relation to export sales.
Anwar said that the GST on exports is at a zero rate and has no effect on the prices of export goods.
Previously, BN reasoned that the GST will help reduce the outflow of illegal money by reducing the problem of trade mispricing.
Anwar said that the problem of trade mispricing managed by the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) through tax audition is due to being connected with attempts to avoid tax by using the transfer pricing, which is biased.
Anwar said this, following reports from Global Financial Integrity (GFI), which states that Malaysia is ranked fourth in the world in relation to illegal money outflows.
Anwar said that the official statement by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Senator Datuk Paul Low, who downplayed the element of corruption and illegal activities, contributed to the outflow of illegal money that reflects BN’s attitude in addressing the issue.
“It does not matter is the corruption component is only 20 percent or 50 percent from the total outflow of illegal money, the amount is billions of ringgit every year and has a significant impact on the national economy,” Anwar said in a press conference at the PKR headquarters here in Petaling Jaya today.
Anwar said that the GFI report should be taken seriously and the attitude of questioning figures and being prone to hiding behind statistics will not help the country overcome the country’s financial status, which is becoming increasingly fragile.
He said that the BN Government is misleading the people, who still lack an understanding of the GST, by using the problem of money laundering to implement the GST.
“The BN Government is insincere and is not working hard to solve money laundering,” said Anwar.
