Pre-printed invoices allowed until end of Sept

PUTRAJAYA: The Customs Department will allow traders to use their hand-written, pre-printed invoices to charge the Goods and Services Tax (GST) until the end of September.
Its GST Division director Datuk Subromaniam Tholasy however said these invoices would have had to be printed before the tax was implemented, and it only applies to hardware shops, restaurants, mini markets, grocery and sundry shops, book stores, pharmacies and places of entertainment.
He said beginning October, all the mentioned businesses will be required to produce invoices which comply with the GST, at the ‘Point-of-Sale’ (POS) system or the GST-compliant cash registers.
“We will allow these businesses to continue using the pre-printed invoices until September 30 or until their stocks run out.
“Having said that, these invoices need to be stamped with the words ‘Tax Invoice’, GST registration number and the tax rate,” Subromaniam said this at a press conference on the latest update of the GST at the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry (KPDNKK) complex today.
He also urged shop owners to invest in the POS system and GST-compliant cash registers as soon as possible to facilitate transactions between them and their consumers without any confusion.
“It is a one time investment of about RM4,000, and they will be using it for the next 10 to 15 years.
“In fact, the government has even said that there will be a tax deduction on purchases of GST-related ICT equipment. We are appealing to them to purchase it as soon as possible,” he said.
Meanwhile, KPDNKK secretary-general Datuk Seri Alias Ahmad said that the government will continue its efforts to gun down profiteering traders, and promised that action will be taken against them.
“We have never given up efforts to ensure that the GST is implemented in accordance with the law.
“We will take action against any profiteering trader, even if there is a single sen increase in prices,” he said.