00:00Former Minister Kairi Jamaluddin has renewed calls for the government to revive the goods and services tax to bolster the
00:08country's finances,
00:10saying Puchajaya can even opt to bring it back under another name.
00:14The former UMNO youth chief said the existing sales and services tax has not been comprehensive enough to boost the
00:21government's coffers,
00:22which is now crucial amid global uncertainties and higher subsidy spending.
00:27Kairi said a small tax collection base would affect a country's preparedness for crises such as geopolitical conflicts or pandemics
00:37like COVID-19.
00:38He said he had conveyed this view to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who was also the finance minister, about a
00:45year after the unity government was formed.
00:47Kairi added that it did not even have to be called GST, suggesting it could instead be branded as the
00:54Fair and Equitable Tax or the Madani Tax.
00:58He said that otherwise the tax revenue collection base would not be strong enough,
01:03adding that politicizing the country's economic management would ultimately cause the people to suffer.
01:10Narmitha Raja, FMT.
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