GST Solutions

GST is a complex and pervasive tax that will impact every aspect of a business. A good understanding of GST is required not only by your finance team, but also by your sales and marketing, product development / pricing team, procurement, HR and even internal audit functions.

As GST in Malaysia continues to evolve, interpreting and applying the changing laws significantly increases the risks of non-compliance for businesses. Incorrectly charging output tax on sales and/or incorrectly claiming input tax on purchases in everyday business transactions, is a risk that is ever present.

It is vital therefore that you are familiar with the GST rules relating to your business and industry, and keep your staff up to date with the latest developments, to avoid potential errors in GST reporting.

Our basic in-house GST training can help you to:

• Understand how GST rules are applicable to a number of complex transactions and how to evaluate the impact of GST
• Identify and deal with major GST issues
• Understand when transactions qualify for zero rating or exemption or relief
• Be equipped with knowledge on input tax recovery rules
• Learn about the common GST errors and issues
• Identify the changes required for business operations to comply with the GST law
• Utilise special schemes and rules where applicable

Working with you to tailor the training to your needs

You may already be confident in certain aspects of GST knowledge within your organisation. If you would like a GST course which addresses specific GST areas or specific busines your business, we would be happy to work with you to design a course that addresses your specific requirements.

Entering into new agreements and contracts, or are you unsure as to the full GST implications of pre-existing contracts?

Avoid any unexpected GST consequences, and optimise your contracts from a GST perspective.

Our GST team can provide contract review services to ensure that all GST liabilities will be accounted for correctly with any transactions arising from the contract. Careful structuring of your contract has the potential to save significant sums. A contract review helps you to identify areas of GST liability and exposures in your contract. Doing this before you sign the contract gives you the opportunity to either renegotiate parts of the contract and/or plan how to manage your exposure in advance.

The service includes:

• A review of the contract to identify the GST liabilities and exposures which arise under the contract. This will cover:
  • the nature of any supply(s)
  • whether and when GST is triggered;
  • the contract terms that are relevant to GST 
  • whether these address the issue of GST
• A short written report on our findings and suggesting further action to protect your position, including suggested changes to the contract or other risk management strategies
• A telephone consultation to discuss the report and provide further guidance if required

With the implementation of GST, the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011 (PCAPA) was amended to prohibit businesses from including input tax credits in the prices they charge for goods and services. Further, businesses are required to reflect any sales tax refunds in the prices of their goods and services.

The penalties for non-compliance can be harsh. The PCAPA provides for fines of up to RM500,000 for a first offence, and up to RM1,000,000 for any subsequent offences.

We can help you to assess your pricing strategies and review your pricing changes to determine whether any price changes could be construed as “profiteering” under this Act. 

Further, we can assist with the preparation of documentation to justify any price increases to manage the risk of being charged under the PCAPA.

Getting systems and processes in place for GST is one part of the story. The preparation of GST returns by your staff will require your staff to have a firm understanding of the complex rules and to stay up to date with the new developments, to arrive at the correct GST treatment and ensure that these are accurately reported in the GST returns.

We offer GST return reviews to identify erroneous submissions and to help you to take corrective actions. The GST return review should help you identify and address any issues before they are raised as part of an RMCD audit.

The review involves checks for the following:

• Reasonable of tax treatment based on the sales listings
• Validity of the tax invoices, credit and debit notes issued
• Validity of vendor tax invoices received
• Time of supply has been correctly accounted for

The Malaysian GST regime is still new and remains largely untested. As a result there are still many uncertainties and ambiguities in the law, which puts businesses at risk.

We can help give you peace of mind as to the GST treatments adopted by you, particularly with respect to complex or high value transactions by helping your business obtain GST advance rulings from the RMCD.

The service includes:

• Sitting down with you to understand the nature of the transaction or arrangement
• Drafting the application on your behalf, and advising on supporting documentation to be submitted with the application
• Submission to senior level Customs officers with a view to fast-tracking the application

Investigations and tax disputes for GST have already begun with the RMCD. Further, they will continue Sales Tax and Service Tax investigations.

Our specialist indirect tax dispute team can assist you with responding and preparing for investigations or disputes, leveraging our good relationships with senior officials at the RMCD to facilitate the dispute resolution process.

We will work closely with your legal counsel where required to give a comprehensive tax perspective and to assist with liaisons with the RMCD.