KUALA LUMPUR, April 1 (Bernama) — The public welcomed the government’s move to exempt reading materials from being imposed with the Goods and Services Tax (GST). The move is seen to have eased the burden on students and teachers who are inclined to use the materials, and at the same time, encourage more people to read.[br]
Checks by Bernama at several bookshops around the Klang Valley found that the premises did not charge any GST on books purchased.[br]
A sixteen-year-old student S. Abilashini said she was not charged any GST on the five workbooks she bought at a bookshop in Batu Caves, although she was charged the tax on stationery.
“It’s good that only the pen and calculator that I bought were charged GST and the workbooks were not. This gives me the opportunity to buy more books to prepare for the coming SPM (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia) examinations,” she said.[br]
A government pensioner Aazad Abbas, 57, was also thankful that the religious books he purchased today were not charged with GST.[br]
“(I am) thankful that there was no GST charged for the books purchased, but I hope the government can control the prices of books to encourage people to read,” he said. Meanwhile, an employee of a 1Malaysia Bookshop in Wangsa Maju, Roziah Zainal Arifin, 28, said the bookshop had well received, and was ready to implement GST at the premises. She explained that the bookshop had displayed a list of things including stationery that would be charged with GST throughout the shop for customers to easily check the types of items charged with the tax.[br]
“The 1Malaysia Bookshop is also maintaining discounts of up to 15 per cent for selected books,” she said.[br]
Zarunida Mior Nasir, 26, who works at the Pustaka Rakyat bookshop in Sri Gombak said all employees had been briefed by the management on the implementation of GST on certain items.
She said the briefing also made it easier for employees to settle any doubts or questions from customers regarding the items that were charged with the tax.[br]
The government has exempted GST from all reading materials including children’s colouring books, workbooks, textbooks, dictionaries and religious books.
However, magazines, digital books and stationery would still be charged the six per cent-rated tax.[br]
The tax is seen to be an important phase in the government’s efforts to strengthen the country’s economy with the people’s interest in mind.[br]
— BERNAMA
Source : http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v8/ge/newsgeneral.php?id=1122295
