Mydin defends claim that goods are GST-free in April

KUALA LUMPUR: Hypermarket chain Mydin is absorbing the 6% Goods and Services Tax (GST) for April in line with its “Harga Tak Naik” (no price hike) campaign.

Mydin Mohamed Holdings managing director Wira Ameer Ali Mydin said his company was absorbing the GST, and would not pass it on to customers.

Photographs of Mydin receipts showing a 6% GST on total purchases were circulating on social media yesterday leading some Internet users to claim that the company was passing on the tax to its customers despite claiming otherwise earlier.

Admitting to the confusion arising from the receipts that showed GST was imposed, Ameer Ali nevertheless insisted that the company had not passed the tax to their customers.

“It is required by law to show the 6% tax on the receipt,” he told Malay Mail Online.

But he added that it was the company, and not their customers that was paying the tax.

To support his claim, Ameer Ali sent a photograph of two Mydin receipts for identical goods bought on March 31 and April 1, showing that the total amount paid by the customer on both days had not changed.

Mydin is bearing the GST by foregoing some of its profits and with rebates from its suppliers, as well as through refunds of the sales and service tax from the government for existing pre-GST stock.

On whether Mydin would continue to absorb the GST after April, Ameer Ali said it would depend on the company’s suppliers and the price of goods.