PUTRAJAYA: The government has paid out a total of RM17.1 billion of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and income tax refunds as of April 30.
In a statement today, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the Customs Department had refunded RM9.5 billion to 76,002 GST registrants as of the stated period.
He added the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) meanwhile had paid out RM7.6 billion in income tax refunds over the same period.
"Of that total, RM5.2 billion was repaid to 70,205 company cases, and RM2.4 billion to 1,186,288 non-company cases,” he said.
Lim added the RM17.1 billion amount was part of the one-off special dividend payment received from Petronas.
"In the 2019 Budget, the ministry announced that Petronas would pay a special dividend of RM30 billion, which would go towards repaying the GST and income tax refunds of RM37 billion this year.
"Payment of this one-off special dividend from Petronas has begun in stages. Repayment of tax refunds has commenced since January," he explained.
Lim said the RM37 billion arrears in income tax refunds in the past six years and GST in the past three years showed the failure of the previous government.
"The previous government had failed to manage its finances where it had withheld taxpayers’ monies without a credible reason, in order to spend them.
"As announced last year, the arrears in GST and income tax refunds involve some 121,429 GST registrants and 1,653,786 companies, individuals, societies and foundations who had paid their taxes as of May 31, last year," he added.
The repayment of these tax refunds, Lim said, was proof that the Pakatan Harapan government did not misappropriate the special dividend from Petronas and was sincere in fulfilling its promise to return the tax refunds to the Malaysian people and companies.
"The repayment of tax refunds is expected to generate a positive impact for businesses in Malaysia and contribute towards economic growth," he added.