Customs Department director-general T Subromaniam has promised to crack down on leakages within his department as a way to close the tax gap created by the government’s switch to the Sales and Services Tax (SST).

The shortfall from replacing the Goods and Services tax (GST) with the SST is estimated to be about RM22 billion.

Speaking today at a forum entitled “Eradicating Income Leakages Nationally”, Subromaniam said he aims to reduce this shortfall by RM3 billion, as per what he previously promised Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng in a meeting.