JUNE 3 — The Customs department is not helping businesses by giving late notices. If you allow more time to remit Sales and Services Tax (SST) to the government, please let businesses know earlier, not the last minute when they have already made payments.
We need to manage cash flow during these Covid-19 difficult times. We could have used the cash better to survive another business month. Give us this breathing space at least! Don’t forget businesses help you collect SST for the nation!
Late notices by Customs is bad for businesses. In Covid times, it is a poor effort to help businesses. It was not timely and did not help business to properly plan their cash use for the following uncertain months.
Businesses were supposed to remit the SST collected (for the period January till April) to Malaysian Customs by May 31, 2020.
A notice was sent by Customs to allow deferment of SST remittance till 30 June. Unfortunately it came too late, after business hours on Friday, May 29, which was the last working day of the month. Many businesses had already remitted the SST by then.
The Covid-19 situation makes tough for businesses. Facing depleted cash flow problems make it impossible to pay the SST on time. To avoid penalties for late payment, many scrambled and borrowed funds just to meet the May 31 due date.
It is hoped that such notices will be given at least two weeks before the expiry of the dead line.
Direct Funding Assistance
The government must help businesses via a direct ‘funding assistance” approach. In the interests of businesses (which help the government to collect SST) to continue their businesses, SST already remitted to Customs(for the period January till April) should be refunded in full.
We need to keep our businesses going. It is a win-win situation. For this we need good compassionate leadership by the Government of the day.
*This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
