Tax money is one of the most important revenue for our government. For instance, RM44 billion was collected from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) alone in 2017, and now, the government is looking into collecting tax from tech giants such as Google and Facebook.
Source: Digital News Asia
This suggestion was earlier proposed by Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai, who is the group managing director of Star Media Group. He pointed out that the Vietnamese government actually collects tax from ads posted on Facebook and Google.
Fun fact: Google and Facebook control nearly 70 per cent of digital advertisements in our country.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid did not reject the proposal and said he will bring this matter to the Cabinet for discussion. Also, Malaysian Association of Tax Accountants (MATA) had applauded this suggestion and reckoned that it’s the right thing for the government to do.
Source: NST
However, the implementation of the mechanism must be reviewed thoroughly first. That’s because other countries have tried to tax these tech giants before but failed to do so due to the lack of justification.
“We need a strong mechanism and regulations, which needs to be studied thoroughly. It is not impossible to impose tax on both companies, but I don’t think it can be implemented in the near future. Studying this will take time as there are many technical issues which need to be resolved,” MATA president said.
Responding to the proposal, Google Malaysia said,
“We pay all the taxes we owe in Malaysia, and we work regularly with the government on a range of issues,” it said.
Basically, they’re saying that they’ve already paid the country whatever taxes they owe.
Do you think our government should tax these tech giants even more? Tell us what you think in the comment section!
Also read: Malaysians Reminded to Be Cautious of This ‘LHDN’ Email Scam During Tax Season
