KOTA KINABALU – Petronas cannot avoid paying tax for the gas channelled from Sabah to Sarawak, says state Deputy Chief Minister II Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan.
Kitingan said speculations that Petronas might short-change Sabah on gas sales tax may not be true as there should be a record of the volume of gas that is sent to Bintulu.
“My view is more of a taxation mechanism; there would at least be a ‘bookkeeping (cost)’ of the gas upon it being piped to Bintulu.
“Sales tax would then be imposed, and payable by Petronas or whichever entity transferring the gas to Bintulu,” he said.
Kitingan, who is a Malaysia Agreement 1963 activist, was commenting on an article by The Vibes that suggested the Sabah government may risk being short-changed by Petronas when the resource extracted in Kimanis is sent to Bintulu.
“I don’t think sales tax can be avoided by merely transferring the gas from Kimanis to Bintulu. (If it happens) the issue would then (need) an effective mechanism to ensure that the tax is imposed and collected by the Sabah government,” he said.
According to the article, gas extracted from Kimanis Oil and Gas Terminal in Sabah is sent to Bintulu LNG Plant in Sarawak via the 500km Sabah-Sarawak Gas Pipeline. – The Vibes, February 7, 2021
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