Selangor Journal

Missing GST fund: Impossible says former minister

Photo taken from thepatriots.asia

By Syauqi Jamil

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Second Finance Minister Johari Abdul Ghani today dismisses Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng’s claims of missing funds from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) repayment fund.

He said it was ‘impossible’ for some RM19 billion worth of funds to go missing, as he told the parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

“I would like to stress that there are no missing fund of RM19.1 billion.

“Its impossible for the funds to have gone missing and I have explained the matter to them,” he told reporters after giving his statement earlier.

Johari went on to explain that GST premium refunds are divided into several categories where not all claims can be paid.

This is because some of the claims has yet to be categorised as a taxable supplies.

He also mentioned other issues which includes pending investigations on claims, deduction issues and approval checks.

Johari dan predecessor Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah arrived at the Parliament building around 10am earlier before spending about an hour with the PAC.

Johari was appointed as Second Finance Minister on June 27, 2016, replacing Husni who had resigned from the post held since April 2009.

In August, Lim in Dewan Rakyat revealed a whopping amount of roughly RM19 billion were missing from the GST Repayment Fund.

He said based on the Customs Department record, the sum of overdue GST refund currently sits at RM19 billion.

However, the Amanah Account (trust fund) where cash flow for the GST refunds was supposed to be deposited into only had a balance of RM148.6 million.

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