Penang may have to table first supplementary budget because of GST, Guan Eng says

GEORGE TOWN, April 24 ― Penang’s Pakatan Rakyat-led (PR) government may have to seek assembly approval for more money this year because of added expenses to state infrastructure works after the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Lim Guan Eng said today.

The Penang chief minister said this would be the first supplementary budget to be tabled under his rule.

“I hope we don't have to table it but if worse come to worse, it will be the first time in history that we table a complementary budget due to the extra expenses incurred by paying GST,” he said.

According to Lim, the state will have to spend an additional RM16.3 million in taxes because of the GST and this, he added, had not been accounted for in the state’s 2015 Budget.

The RM16.3 million, he added, does not include GST on projects by local councils and government agencies such as the Penang Water Supply Corporation and Penang Development Corporation.

The Penang lawmaker has always protested against the consumption tax and criticised its implementation.

On May 1, the Penang state government is organising an anti-GST rally at the Seberang Jaya Expo.

Lim said it is the state's effort to speak up for the workers on Workers Day as it is this group that is most affected by the GST.

The rally will start at 5pm and Lim said they will involve all non-governmental organisations. “This is not about politics but about people's livelihood,” he said.