KOTA KINABALU – A Warisan party leader said the previous administration made it possible for Sabah to collect the sales tax from the oil companies, under a law approved last April.
In an apparent rebuke against Sabah Star, Warisan’s Merotai assemblyman Sarifuddin Hata said the 5% sales tax bill was approved when Warisan was still part of the state government, and its leader Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal was chief minister.
“I found the words from Sabah Star’s Tulid assemblyman Flovia Ng funny and she clearly does not know that the tax bill needs to be approved in the state assembly first before the state can begin collecting them.
“How can the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah government claim credit if it has not held a single assembly sitting since coming to power in September?,” asked Sarifudin in response to Ng's statement that Warisan lost their right to claim credit on collecting sales taxes from Petronas.
The Sabah Sales Tax (Rates of Tax) Order 2018 on petroleum products, namely crude petroleum oil and natural gas/liquefied gas, was gazetted on Dec 6, 2018 and came into force on April 1 this year before being published in the government gazette on April 2.
Ng last night said there was no need to credit the previous Warisan-led Sabah government over the sales tax imposition as it was her party president, Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan who had approached Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin over the matter, and not Shafie.
Sarifuddin, who was formerly Sabah assistant finance minister, also said that the April timestamp on a letter of demand issued by the Sabah Finance Ministry to Petronas was made even before the GRS alliance was established in September this year.
According to Sabah Deputy Chief Minister II Jeffrey Kitingan, Muhyiddin agreed to allow Sabah to collect sales taxes on petroleum products from national oil company, Petronas.
Petronas has yet to comment on the matter. – The Vibes, Nov 11, 2020
