this post wont be as the usual me ranting about things je. but saje lah nak tunjuk pandai sikit wpon tak terel pon. kita nak borak about Malaysia's 2014 Budget and GST okay. because I care about my country so kena amek tahu and bagitahu orang lain jugak. :)
anyway, najib started the speech by quoting a fellow philosopher that idk who.
I love how the quote sounds like. so true. there's even a hadith from Rasullah saying:
Pemerintah yg baik adalah pemerintah yg didoakan dan mendoakan rakyatnya. Yang mengasihi dan dikasihi rakyatnya.okay sikit tahun lagi mesti kena judge that im siding the ruler. but come on people, it's the majority already elected so let's face that and work together shall we? tunggu lagi lima tahun then boleh je nak itukalilah kitamakankarilah. :D
back to the 2014 Budget. I may miss few things but here i listed few things on 2014 Budget that caught my attention and a little commentary in italic when i feels like commenting as well:
- Total budget worth RM264.2bn with RM217.7bn (82%) allocated for operating expenditures and another RM46.5bn(18%) for development expenditure.
- Out of the development expenditure, RM29bn is for the economic sector, RM3.9bn for security, RM10.5bn for social sector (which includes education & training, welfare, health, housing and community development), RM1.1bn for general admin and RM2bn for contingencies. Another disappointment as government is still spending a large chunk on operating expenditures. the nature for developing countries usually is to focus on development hence greater budget on development expenditure that have a greater multiplier effects into the countries income. 82% allocation for operating expenditure however means that we are not gonna see lots of new things going on. but kita tengok dulu then baru judge pulak.
- RM50m allocated for 1MeT program by Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGIC). The program will supply Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund that will be managed by SME Bank where graduates will be able to apply for soft loan of up to RM500k at interest if 4% to start up new business. kawan-kawan now you can apply if you are interested to. bagus ni muda2 berbisnes.
- Another round of BR1M worth RM300 will be given out. Enjoy the one-off giveaway.
- GST will be imposed at 6%, the existing sales tax and services tax will abolished. GST will be affective from 1 April 2015 (17 months from now). Can go shopping now before kena bayar GST at the checkouts or start saving for future. #YourLifeYourChoice
- Income tax will be reduced by 1% to 3%, affecting all tax payers. Also, family with monthly income of up to RM4000 will no longer have tax liability. yayy!
- Corporate tax will be reduced by 1% to 24%. Secretarial fee and tax filing fee are allowed as tax deductions. This will be a good news as corporations wont be able to simply say that their expenditure hiked because of GST and would want to pass the cost to consumers. Tax credit and tax deductions are generous giveaways to them.
- RM54.6bn allocated for education. this includes new preschools, teachers empowerment, internet access in schools, new schools, RM600m in research grants, MyBrain15, 1Malaysia book vouchers, RM100 giveaways to school students. No news on free education still.
- 'Park&Ride' facilities at LRT stations, KTM and ERL. Boleh lah ramai2 naik lrt je pegi office lepas ni.
- Real Property Gains Tax (RPGT) will now be at 30% for holding period of up to 3 years, 20% and 15% for 4 and 5 years holding period respectively.
- Foreigners can only buy properties priced at RM1m and above as compared to RM500m. in hope to reduce speculators and giving chance to locals to buy affordable houses.
- Prohibit from features of DIBS. Financial institutions should not approve loans for projects involved in DBS scheme. This is nothing new and we are also aware that developers will always have sneaky ways to still implementing DIBS without using DIBS as the tagline. Government kena jadi lagi sneaky than the sneaky developers.
- Special tax relief of RM2000 for middle income group with monthly income of up to RM8000.
- Cut in sugar's subsidy. to curb diabetes they say? good sense of humour i would say hihi.
So, what do you think?
Fikir 5 saat kejap.
Dah 5 saat?
Okay. good job hihi.
In my humble opinion, I think the government is finally showing some balls to really being hard and do something. Credit agencies have been putting eyes on us for some times and 2014 Budget is the deadline given for the government to take measures and do something about the piling debts. Yes, we are in huge debts. But, to be honest, that is just how currencies work where printing currencies has been a routine altho the money itself is not there. I dont want to go there today. All I know is that when you are facing a problem, you need to solve it. and here we need solve by dragging more income to the country in expense of the citizens. Imposing the GST will bring visible impact to the our tax income, shut the credit agencies, maintain the stability of economic outlook and financial markets in Malaysia. If we do not do anything, the impact definitely will be very disastrous. However, i am still seeing Malaysia been spending too much on internal expenditures which are prone to leakages. it is difficult to track them and God knows if they are spending the allocations wisely. it's hard to say as i am trying to put faith in the person in charge but kadang2 mcm rasa in denial jugak kan. but sama-sama lah doa they are actually doing the right things not just covering our views and pura-pura kura-kura kupu-kupu.
the star of this year's budget will be the GST. many will still be clueless about the new scheme and confusion definitely is not a good thing. i have not get a hand on the real bill but we shall compare with australian VAT and singapore's GST system to understand as it will be similar.
GST is a broad base tax system where every buyers at every levels will be imposed the tax individually and directly. ours will be at 6%. companies with total turnover of over RM500,000 per annum will need to register and pay of the tax. also, end consumers also will be paying additional 6% as they consume the products.
Previously, we are using Service Tax and Sales Tax system. the GST will be a multiple layered tax system whereas the old system is a single-tier tax system. jom kita try tgk contoh on how it gonna works.
Let say a timber merchant sells timber to a furniture manufacturer for RM106 (including RM6 GST). The manufacturer uses the timber to make a table, which he sells to a furniture retailer for RM212 (including RM12 GST). The retailer then sells the table to a consumer for RM318 (including RM18 GST).
- A timber merchant sells timber for RM106 (including RM6 GST). Assuming that there is no tax credit, the timber merchant is paying RM6 of GST straight to tax owner and consumers paying RM106 for timber.
- The manufacturer sells table for RM212 (including RM12 GST). Tax credit will be at RM6 and so the manufacturer will pay another RM6 of GST.
- The retailer now sells table to end consumer at RM318 (including RM18 GST). the retailer can claim tax credit of RM12 and pay only RM6 of GST. Consumers on the other hand will be paying total RM318 but won't be able to apply for tax credit as we cant even register for it.
the consumers here are the one bearing the whole RM18 cost of GST.
Now let's compare with the old system. previously, service tax rate is at 6%. there is only one layer of service (ie service providers to consumers). hence, the cost will not be the same. for sales tax, it is harder to compare. this is because the rate varies from 0% to up to 35% depending on items. i would say that the high tax items would have a higher chain. therefore, would compensate for the higher GST to be paid. i do not have the whole tax rate list with me now so i cannot guarantee you. but i can say that GST at 6% is quite reasonable. you should not be seeing prices to inflate too much as the amount to be paid will likely to be higher by only small percentage. yes, some items previously has not been taxed but now everything is subject to GST except those with exemptions and the inflationary pressure definitely will be there but should still be manageable with 6% GST. good thing is government is reducing income tax, hence greater disposable income to fund GST. thing is our tax collection system has been so poor with only 28% of taxpayers are actually paying income tax. yes, the system need to be changed, to be tighten up and to be better managed. but, here GST is actually is quite transparent. where, by right, government should be able to better collect their income.
As thing will be out there pon, jom pasrah je lah bayar GST nnt. but as citizen, my hope is just for them to spend our hard-earned money in wise manners and do not spoil the trust given. oh gosh, it must be hard to hold big responsibilities of a nation, i will never wish to be in that position.
ok ngantuk sangat dah. bye.
