He said any tax measures to be implemented would definitely take into account the involvement of stakeholders.

“As stated by the government before, we acknowledge that the tax system must be more balanced, fair and equitable in generating national revenue for us to return to the people.

“The government of today is concerned and will not introduce tax measures without taking into account the people’s welfare and the country’s economic stability and viability, especially businesses,” he said at the Dewan Negara today.

Shahar said this in reply to a supplementary question from Robert Lau Hui Yew on whether the government would reintroduce the goods and services tax (GST) and its date of implementation.

Earlier, when responding to N Balasubramanian on the government’s achievement in implementing alternative taxation such as windfall tax and gains tax, Shahar said so far, the government had not fully implemented the capital gains tax.

However, he said ongoing initiatives and studies were being carried out to structure a more balanced, fair and equitable tax system in order to support and increase national revenue.

“The government must ensure the tax measures that will be implemented will not burden the people and affect the economic position and can enhance the country’s competitiveness in line with the national recovery plan.

Shahar said that since 1999, the government enforced the Windfall Profit Levy Act (Act 592) on profits generated from the sale of crude palm oil.

This, he said, had succeeded in providing an additional RM4.1 billion in revenue to the government since its introduction until September this year.

“The government takes note of the views from various quarters that a windfall profit levy should be imposed on certain businesses that generated extraordinary profits during the Covid-19 pandemic,” he added.