THE prepaid telephone card issue must be sorted out quickly, simply because it is threatening to make a farce of the just-implemented Goods and Services Tax (GST). Not only that, the increasingly confusing issue is driving consumers towards asking who is really in charge ” the government or the telecommunication companies. In the beginning, the Customs Department said telcos must stop imposing the six per cent GST on prepaid reload cards. Then it agreed to allow them to impose the tax, but with an added benefit to consumers in the form of additional talk time. Then it said prepaid reload cards must be free from GST immediately, only to be disputed later by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), which said it would be costly for the telcos to re-calibrate their system to one that does not impose GST at all. The Customs Department then made an about-turn when it said it would indefinitely postpone its directive that prepaid reload cards must be free from GST. This, too, was refuted by the deputy finance minister, who said there was an earlier cabinet directive that no GST shall be imposed on prepaid reload cards. Caught in the middle are the prepaid customers, who largely comprise youths and the ordinary working-class group.
To continue reading the rest of the article, click here