PKR supports service charge despite GST as it benefits workers

PKR supports the service charge imposed on customers and will not call for its removal as its goes towards workers' incomes, says party vice-president Chua Tian Chang.

He said consumers should not confuse the service charge as being part of the taxation system as it was different from the goods and services tax (GST).

"We have no plans to call for its reduction or removal because the service charge is part of workers' income," he said in a press conference today.

Chua, also known as Tian Chua, said this was the collective stance of the opposition pact, Pakatan Rakyat, which recognised the service charge as being part of workers' remuneration.

"Of course the consumers feel that they are being burdened. But the service charge has been there all this while. (It is) GST that was introduced recently. GST is the portion that the government is taking from the people.

"We recognise the service charge belongs to workers in the services sector and we call on all quarters to respect it," he said.

Since the GST was implemented on April 1, there has been confusion among various service-providers as to whether the service charge, which is different from the sales and service tax that the GST replaces, should be retained. – April 15, 2015.