RM7.8 bil in GST refunds owed by Customs as of February

(FMT) – A total of RM7.8 billion in goods and services tax (GST) refunds is still owed by the Customs Department to companies as of February, the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) revealed.

FMM president Soh Thian Lai said this had resulted in a negative impact on cash flow.

“We understand that the delay is due to the requirement by the Customs Department to carry out field audits before refunds are granted,” he said in a statement.

Soh said Putrajaya should expedite the GST refunds by undertaking field audits based on company risk profile and their track record.

As of February, the Customs Department had paid RM4 billion in GST claims involving 54,603 registered accounts.

Two years ago, the government announced that arrears in GST and income tax refunds involved 121,429 GST registrants and 1,653,786 companies, individuals, societies and foundation as of May, 2018.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng had, when tabling the national budget in 2019, said the government would procure a special dividend of RM30 billion from state oil and gas company Petronas to make the refunds which stood at RM37 billion.

He had also said that the refunds would be made in stages.