KUALA LUMPUR: DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng’s motive for Malaysia to follow Australia’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) model has been questioned.
Barisan Nasional strategic communications deputy director Eric See-To said the Penang chief minister had wanted Malaysia to follow the example of Australia and return part of the GST collections to the state.
In particular, Lim wants the Federal Government to give 50 per cent (or 3 per cent GST) back to the states, he said in a Facebook posting, here, yesterday.
“There is a danger in making simplistic statements such as this without considering other factors”.
See-To said, for example, Australia's GST is 10 per cent versus 6 per cent in Malaysia and that Australia's personal tax rate is also much higher.
“Australia starts taxing their residents when their salaries are just $1500 per month at a rate of 19 per cent - versus 0 per cent for those whose income is RM4,000 per month or less in Malaysia.
“ Australia's personal tax rate goes up to 37 per cent for their middle income versus 24 per cent for Malaysia while their highest earners are taxed at 45 per cent versus 28 per cent for Malaysia.
He adds that while Australia's company taxes are 27.5 per cent for SMEs versus 17 per cent in Malaysia and 30 per cent for larger companies versus 24 per cent in Malaysia.
“Making populist and selective statements is easy but the reality is a lot more complicated than that.
“If Lim was an opposition politician in Australia, he would probably be claiming that Australians are badly oppressed and struggling to survive while the country is going bankrupt as Australia’s household debt to GDP ratio is 125 per cent.
See-To adds that the DAP already says the same thing about Malaysia by citing that Malaysia’s household debt to GDP is a “staggeringly high” 84 per cent.