The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s Revenue Statistics in Asian Countries 2016 report stated that Malaysia recorded less than the OECD average of tax income (34.2%) of GDP in 2014, similar to Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Singapore and Indonesia.

Despite what the report’s title suggests, the data terminates at 2014. Malaysia’s total tax revenue for 2014 was 15.9% of its GDP.

This indicates that there is scope for increased tax mobilisation in areas such as consumption taxes (eg GST).

Source: Malay Mail Online, 29 November 2016