SHAH ALAM, Feb 7 – PAS has urged the government to postpone the second reading of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill in the Dewan Rakyat next month to allow sufficient time for it to be scrutinised.

Its vice-president Datuk Mahfuz Omar said a special parliamentary committee comprising members of the House from the government and the opposition should be formed to deliberate on the GST as it would affect many quarters.

The special committee should also set up a sub-committee made up of consumer associations, manufacturers, accountants and tax experts to analyse the GST, he told reporters after attending a roundtable conference on the implementation of the GST hosted by Pas here today.

“We are not rejecting the GST in total but we want an assurance from the government that when it is enforced, individual, company and cooperative income taxes will be reduced as the GST will burden consumers,” he added.

Mahfuz said the party would send an official letter to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on the matter. The bill was tabled in the Dewan Rakyat for first reading in December. – Bernama