A fake circular is being circulated on social media on the withdrawal of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) by June 1.
Fake news:
- GST to be removed as a Hari Raya gift
- No tax will be introduced for next two years
- Abolish UiTM and use allocation for PH university
Lim Guan Eng has denied that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be abolished on June 1, urging the public to wait for an official directive.
“I cannot issue the directive as I have not been sworn in.
“Only the Prime Minister (Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad) can issue a directive, but when I contacted his office, they confirmed that the Prime Minister did not do so.
“Therefore, the media release that went viral was false,” he told a press conference at the Khazanah Nasional office in China Street Ghaut on Monday.
He stressed that although the media release was not true, it does not mean that Pakatan Harapan (PH) will not abolish GST.
He urged the public to filter the news they receive, as there will be a lot of fake news coming out at this time, a number of them being old fake news that is now recycled.
“Wait for the official statements issued by the Federal Government, especially from the Prime Minister, because he is the only one who has been sworn in and has the authority,” Lim added.
Purportedly issued by the Ministry of Finance (MoF), the bogus letter bears the crest of the ministry.
It claimed that the Federal Government would remove the tax as a Hari Raya gift for the people.
The fake statement also stated that no new tax will be introduced for two years during the new PH administration.
The MoF, through its Facebook page, has issued a simple “fake” notice on the statement as a means to clear up any confusion.
Lim noted that another piece of news making the rounds was of a tweet purportedly by him to abolish Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) and use the allocation for a PH university.
He stressed that the tweet was fake and not by him and that he would never ask for UiTM to be abolished.