Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar (third right) echoed similar calls by her Pakatan Rakyat (PR) colleagues to exclude all scheduled medicines from the new consumption tax system, saying the current list of zero-rated items would only profit the ‘crony class’. ― Picture by Choo Choy May
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 25 ― A PKR lawmaker questioned today Putrajaya’s rationale behind imposing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on healthcare and education when luxury food items like lobsters are being exempted.

Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar echoed similar calls by her Pakatan Rakyat (PR) colleagues to exclude all scheduled medicines from the new consumption tax system, saying the current list of zero-rated items would only profit the “crony class”.

“Lobsters are exempted, but medicines and books are taxed... who eats lobsters everyday? I know the people in my constituency don't,” Nurul Izzah told a press conference in Parliament lobby.

“Ordinary Malaysians are being asked to pay directly or indirectly, for these projects through the regressive GST and abolition of subsidies to fill the Treasury's deficit-ridden coffers,” she said.

The PKR vice president pointed out that patients at private healthcare facilities will have to pay the GST for medical aids such as crutches, wheelchairs and artificial limbs.

Apart from that, she said medicines for cancer patients, kidney-related illnesses and HIV patients are also excluded from the zero-rated list.

The Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia (APHM) has estimated that healthcare costs will rise between 4 and 5 per cent after the GST as medical supplies are subjected to the tax system, scheduled for implementation next year.

Meanwhile, Nurul Izzah said findings by the International Publisher Association (IPA) have shown that 47 out of 51 countries that impose the GST have either introduced special discounts or exemptions on printed books.

“I think the government has to understand this demand.

“They are making lobsters exempt from GST because the government has under NKEA project harvesting lobsters in Sabah.

“So for me, there is a disconnect between what ordinary Malaysians are facing once the tax regime is in place versus what their vested interests are involved with,” she said.