BENEATH the ocean of tax reform is an all too familiar rumbling. GST-zilla, the bogeyman of elections past and future, now stirs back into life as the Barisan Nasional says it will champion the return of the all-encompassing tax after the next general election.

Almost a political slur word, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been a political piñata. Beaten for political mileage, GST nonetheless contains goodies that go far beyond what the Sales and Service Tax (SST) offers.