Malaysia is to introduce a goods and services tax in April aimed at reducing the government’s deficit from its current 53% of gross domestic product to 3.5% of GDP by the end of the next fiscal year.
The government claims the GST will affect mostly the rich, but think-tank the Penang Institute says the burden will fall mainly on the young and the poor. Low-income families will contribute 2.35% of their monthly pay toward the GST, while high-income households will shell out only 1.32%.
