Kelantan mufti: GST is part of social justice

(Bernama) – The Goods and Services Tax (GST) which has been implemented by the federal government is part of social justice, according to Kelantan mufti Mohamad Shukri Mohamad.

He said certain quarters had erred in claiming that the GST was not in line with Islamic teachings and that only “zakat” (tithe) was an acceptable tax.

“They think that tithe collection is the only way to develop the country, but they seem to have forgotten one thing – that zakat is to be distributed to asnaf (group entitled to receive tithe) and cannot be used to build roads or buildings.

“So, that’s why the 106th National Fatwa Conference agreed that the implementation of the GST is ‘harus’ (permissible),” he told reporters at his office in Balai Islam Lundang here yesterday.

He said this in response to the implementation of GST from April 1 which had caused lot of misunderstanding among the people as many viewed it as an “additional financial burden”.

Mohamad Shukri said both tithe and tax were among the contributors to the country’s income and revenue and would help maintain social justice in the distribution of the country’s wealth to the people.

“According to Islamic teachings, the GST is permissible, but it must not create misunderstanding, misconduct and exploitation when implemented.

“As such, the government must take appropriate action to avoid a negative impact of the GST during the implementation,” he said.

The GST came into effect on April 1 at a rate of 6% to replace the sales and services tax (SST) of 16%.