Oon presenting his talk on ‘GST: How does it Affect the Public and Property Investor?’ during the StarProperty.my Fair 2014 at Queensbay Mall, Penang.

Experts provide property fair visitors with useful knowledge

The fear that all products and services will be imposed with the goods and services tax (GST) by April 2015 is not justified, as not all businesses are eligible to collect GST.

TY Teoh International national tax director Richard Oon said only businesses with a turnover of more than RM500,000 per year would be able to charge GST.

“Businesses will have to display their GST licence in order to collect the tax. A receipt will also need to bear the GST identification number.

“Consumers can easily checked the authenticity of the receipt’s GST identification number by visiting http://gst.customs.gov.my.

“This means that consumers have a choice of buying products and services from a GST-registered company or a non-GST-registered company,” he said in Penang.

Oon was speaking at a talk on ‘GST: How Does it Affect the Public and Property Investor?’ at the StarProperty.my Fair 2014, organised by Star Publications (M) Bhd, with Zeon Properties as the event partner.

Oon added that there were six types of business that were not eligible to charge GST namely residential property developers, medical care companies, financial institutions, toll operators, transportation firms and insurance companies.

In a separate talk on Real Property Gains Tax (RPGT), Aljeffri Dean managing partner Neoh Chin Wah said the quantum of tax one would need to pay the Government depended on the category which the gain from the disposal of a property fell under.

“Make sure that you know which category you fall under before submitting the return to the Government.

“If the gain fell under the RPGT, depending on the period of disposal, it could be 0% if the property was disposed in the sixth year of purchase by an individual.

“If the seller is a company, and the property is dispose in the sixth year of purchase, the RPGT is 5%. But if the gain from the disposal of a property comes under income tax, the seller, if an individual, could be taxed up to 26%,” he said.

Prior to Jan 2014, the RPGT was 10%, if the property was disposed within the third to fifth year, and zero, if disposed after the sixth year.

Meanwhile, in a talk on ‘Dispel the Mystical Part of Feng Shui’, Malaysian Institute of Geomancy Sciences founder David Koh said any occurrence is mysterious if one does not know the scientific reason behind it.

“Feng shui is mysterious as it cannot be measured by any scientific instrument.

“Following more than 50 years of personal research, I conclude that everything which happens can be explained by science,” he said.

Source: StarProperty.my