<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Many firms lack resources to handle GST issues: Survey
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->COMPANIES believe the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is getting more complex but many do not have enough clued-up staff to deal with it.
A survey of 237 organisations by accounting firm KPMG found nearly 70 per cent saying they were moderately or very concerned with the growing volume and complexity of GST issues.
The survey also found that 62 per cent of the companies were worried about the threat of penalties for non-compliance, while 60 per cent said they did not have enough resources to deal with issues surrounding the sales tax.
There have been cases of businesses being prosecuted for evading the tax, which was raised from 5 per cent to 7 per cent last year.
While most of the firms surveyed believed that the Government will try to raise relatively more revenue from indirect taxes such as GST, they admitted that they were not spending enough time dealing with the GST.
Instead, companies are still devoting a lot of time to corporate income tax issues, with about 41 per cent of them saying they spent most of their time on corporate tax.
Only a quarter of organisations spent most of their time on GST compliance.
KPMG said 'this suggests a lack of resources in dealing with GST matters'. Another reason could be that corporate taxes are perceived as being more important to firms in Singapore.
The study also seemed to show that companies were ill-equipped to deal with more complicated tax issues.
About 75 per cent had a team of only five employees or fewer to handle tax matters.
Nearly 60 per cent had no separate tax head to supervise tax matters, relying instead on the head of finance to handle the job.
KPMG's head of tax, Mr Owi Kek Hean, said: 'For some years now, governments throughout the world have been switching their attention to indirect taxes.
'Our survey suggests that organisations are aware of this trend, but have some way to go in managing the challenges that come with this.'
LEE SU SHYAN
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->COMPANIES believe the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is getting more complex but many do not have enough clued-up staff to deal with it.
A survey of 237 organisations by accounting firm KPMG found nearly 70 per cent saying they were moderately or very concerned with the growing volume and complexity of GST issues.
The survey also found that 62 per cent of the companies were worried about the threat of penalties for non-compliance, while 60 per cent said they did not have enough resources to deal with issues surrounding the sales tax.
There have been cases of businesses being prosecuted for evading the tax, which was raised from 5 per cent to 7 per cent last year.
While most of the firms surveyed believed that the Government will try to raise relatively more revenue from indirect taxes such as GST, they admitted that they were not spending enough time dealing with the GST.
Instead, companies are still devoting a lot of time to corporate income tax issues, with about 41 per cent of them saying they spent most of their time on corporate tax.
Only a quarter of organisations spent most of their time on GST compliance.
KPMG said 'this suggests a lack of resources in dealing with GST matters'. Another reason could be that corporate taxes are perceived as being more important to firms in Singapore.
The study also seemed to show that companies were ill-equipped to deal with more complicated tax issues.
About 75 per cent had a team of only five employees or fewer to handle tax matters.
Nearly 60 per cent had no separate tax head to supervise tax matters, relying instead on the head of finance to handle the job.
KPMG's head of tax, Mr Owi Kek Hean, said: 'For some years now, governments throughout the world have been switching their attention to indirect taxes.
'Our survey suggests that organisations are aware of this trend, but have some way to go in managing the challenges that come with this.'
LEE SU SHYAN
