ALOR SETAR: Kedah Farmers Association, on behalf of 100,000 padi farmers in the state, will submit a memorandum to the Finance Ministry to appeal for Goods and Services Tax (GST) exemption.
Its chairman Datuk Abdul Lateh Mohd Saman said the move was to ease the farmers' financial burden which has escalated due to the rise in the operational costs.
He said farmers had to make multiple GST payments, from padi planting process to the shipment of the crops, which sums up to 30 per cent.
He said the memorandum will be submitted as soon as possible, before the tabling of the 2018 Budget by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on Oct 27
"We have to pay five types of GST charges, from transportation of the fertiliser, seedlings, ploughing process, harvest process and finally, the transportation of the crops to the rice millers.
"For each of the process, we have to pay six per cent, which brings the total GST charges to 30 per cent.
"Padi farmers especially those who owns small plots do not earn much, as the floor price of padi is fixed by the government and having to pay GST is burdensome to them," he said after the opening of the association's 34th annual general meeting by Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah at Dewan Kolej Insaniah here.
Meanwhile, Bashah said he backed the association's move to appeal for the GST exemption as it would help eased their burden.
"The memorandum is vital to address the plight and the wishes of padi farmers and I believe they will be able to improve their yield quality if the federal government agrees to reduce their GST charges even by half," he said.
Asked on the upcoming budget wish list, Bashah hoped that the prime minister would announce allocation or incentives that would spur the state economic growth and also the the state agriculture sector.
Translated from Berita Harian