See this brochure.
Available from here on weekdays 9 am to 6 pm.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Build up the public opinion
Several people asked if there is any point in making suggestions in the media, if the authorities are not paying attention and will not reply to these suggestions.
The purpose of expressing our views is NOT to convince the authorities, as they do not agree with the suggestions and will not want to change their views. Some people say that they do not care.
The purpose is to educate the public and to build the public opinion. If many people are aware that there is a better alternative to the current policies and are willing to express their views strongly, the authorities cannot continue to ignore them.
I urge the public to be willing to express your views and, preferably, to add your name so that they carry more weight.
In other countries, the public will go out to demonstrate in the streets. It is quite sad that the people are not allowed to express their views through demonstration in Singapore. We can adopt the next best approach, and that is to express our views openly, and educate other people to these views. Let us build up the public opinion.
Tan Kin Lian
The purpose of expressing our views is NOT to convince the authorities, as they do not agree with the suggestions and will not want to change their views. Some people say that they do not care.
The purpose is to educate the public and to build the public opinion. If many people are aware that there is a better alternative to the current policies and are willing to express their views strongly, the authorities cannot continue to ignore them.
I urge the public to be willing to express your views and, preferably, to add your name so that they carry more weight.
In other countries, the public will go out to demonstrate in the streets. It is quite sad that the people are not allowed to express their views through demonstration in Singapore. We can adopt the next best approach, and that is to express our views openly, and educate other people to these views. Let us build up the public opinion.
Tan Kin Lian
Politics and MRT
What has politics got to do with the standard of service in MRT trains? Read my views.
Rechargeable torchlight with locator - as gift for wedding anniversary
A retiree came to my office to buy 10 pieces of the rechargeable torchlight. Another person is using 50 pieces to give away to guests at his wedding anniversay party. They like the concept of the rechargeable torchlight with a locator. More details here.
India is worrying about lower demand for jobs
According to this report, India is now worrying about lower demand for jobs in the future, caused by smarter computers and increased automation.
In my view, there is no need to worry about reduced demand for workers due to technological advances. The solution - everybody work shorter work week and have the available jobs shared among the people who needs to work.
In my view, there is no need to worry about reduced demand for workers due to technological advances. The solution - everybody work shorter work week and have the available jobs shared among the people who needs to work.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Broaden the tax base
One argument put forward for GST is that it broadens the tax base. Why is it necessary to broaden the tax base? What cause the tax base to be narrow anyway?
Let us start with the primary purpose of taxation. A government needs tax to pay for the cost of providing public services to the community. They are many ways to collect tax. Prior to GST, the government in Singapore collected tax from personal income tax, corporate tax, vehicle tax, worker's levy, sale of land, stamp duties, cigarette and liquox tax, betting tax, estate duty among others. The tax collected from these sources had been more than sufficient to pay for the cost of running the government, leading to large budget surplus.
Why are so many people not paying income taxes in Singapore? Here is the most likely reason. Most of them do not earn enough to meet their living expenses, due to low wages. There is really no need to ask them to pay tax, as they are already taxed indirectly through low wages and high cost of living. Why ask them to pay GST and then give them GST offset packages?
There were some arguments that some hawkers have high earnings and do not pay tax. I believe that this issue has been blown out of proportion. They are not many rich hawkers and if the government wishes to tax them, it would be quite easy to do so.
Some countries have a broader tax base because there is a high wages, and everyone can earn enough to pay their share of the tax. The countries which has a broad tax base and levy GST are also those that provide high welfare benefits (which is not the case in Singapore). They also do not have the high revenue from sale of land and vehicle tax that is levied in Singapore.
I do not understand the argument about the need to broaden the tax base or to levy tax on consumption. These are the "secondary" arguments that leave to an inefficient and wasteful system, which is called GST.
Tan Kin Lian
Let us start with the primary purpose of taxation. A government needs tax to pay for the cost of providing public services to the community. They are many ways to collect tax. Prior to GST, the government in Singapore collected tax from personal income tax, corporate tax, vehicle tax, worker's levy, sale of land, stamp duties, cigarette and liquox tax, betting tax, estate duty among others. The tax collected from these sources had been more than sufficient to pay for the cost of running the government, leading to large budget surplus.
Why are so many people not paying income taxes in Singapore? Here is the most likely reason. Most of them do not earn enough to meet their living expenses, due to low wages. There is really no need to ask them to pay tax, as they are already taxed indirectly through low wages and high cost of living. Why ask them to pay GST and then give them GST offset packages?
There were some arguments that some hawkers have high earnings and do not pay tax. I believe that this issue has been blown out of proportion. They are not many rich hawkers and if the government wishes to tax them, it would be quite easy to do so.
Some countries have a broader tax base because there is a high wages, and everyone can earn enough to pay their share of the tax. The countries which has a broad tax base and levy GST are also those that provide high welfare benefits (which is not the case in Singapore). They also do not have the high revenue from sale of land and vehicle tax that is levied in Singapore.
I do not understand the argument about the need to broaden the tax base or to levy tax on consumption. These are the "secondary" arguments that leave to an inefficient and wasteful system, which is called GST.
Tan Kin Lian
GST is unnecessary for Singapore
I have always considered GST to be unnecessary and unsuitable for Singapore since its introduction many years ago. Here are my reasons:
a) GST is a wasteful and inefficient method of collecting tax. It requires every transactions to be counted. Each person handles many transactions every day. It cause a lot of work for consumers, business, and tax collectors.
b) It is better to collect adequate tax using the income tax system. Collecting tax by GST adds another layer of administration.
c) Singapore already had an efficient system of collecting tax from income, property, workers levy, vehicle taxes (ERP, COE) and land premiums. There is no need for GST as the government already collected sufficient tax for its needs.
d) Singapore does not spend much on social welfare. There is no need to collect GST to fund the government expenses, unlike other countries that have high welfare benefits.
e) Introducing GST to reduce corporate and personal tax is a bad strategy to attract high income people to move their tax base to Singapore. It takes tax away from other countries and will cause them to retaliate.
f) Giving GST offset to low income people to compensate for GST on essential products is creating unnecessary work and confusion.
The accountants and bureaucrats like GST because it means more business and jobs for them. But this wastefulness has to be paid by the rest of the economy, and in the higher cost of living and a more stressful life.
I understand that Hong Kong does not need to introduce GST. Like Singapore, the government collects sufficient revenue from land sales.
I spoke to a businessman recently. His family had developed a large distribution business in Singapore for over 40 years. They scaled down their operation recently and moved to another Asean country. One of the contributing factor is that GST has made Singapore uncompetitive as a shopping destination.
I know that the Government will not remove GST. But I will still like to point out that it was a mistake for Singapore to introduce GST (and reduce income tax) in the first place. It is one factor that led to our economic decline.
Tan Kin Lian
From Wikipedia - GST in Hong Kong
Goods and Services Tax (GST) was a proposed Value Added Tax in Hong Kong. Consultation over a period of nine months was launched on 2006-07-19 and stirred considerable controversy.
It launched a fierce debate amongst local taxpayers, lawmakers, journalists, politicians, who hotly debated the need for the tax, and the shape any taxes should take. The plan to levy GST was dropped on 2006-12-05.
a) GST is a wasteful and inefficient method of collecting tax. It requires every transactions to be counted. Each person handles many transactions every day. It cause a lot of work for consumers, business, and tax collectors.
b) It is better to collect adequate tax using the income tax system. Collecting tax by GST adds another layer of administration.
c) Singapore already had an efficient system of collecting tax from income, property, workers levy, vehicle taxes (ERP, COE) and land premiums. There is no need for GST as the government already collected sufficient tax for its needs.
d) Singapore does not spend much on social welfare. There is no need to collect GST to fund the government expenses, unlike other countries that have high welfare benefits.
e) Introducing GST to reduce corporate and personal tax is a bad strategy to attract high income people to move their tax base to Singapore. It takes tax away from other countries and will cause them to retaliate.
f) Giving GST offset to low income people to compensate for GST on essential products is creating unnecessary work and confusion.
The accountants and bureaucrats like GST because it means more business and jobs for them. But this wastefulness has to be paid by the rest of the economy, and in the higher cost of living and a more stressful life.
I understand that Hong Kong does not need to introduce GST. Like Singapore, the government collects sufficient revenue from land sales.
I spoke to a businessman recently. His family had developed a large distribution business in Singapore for over 40 years. They scaled down their operation recently and moved to another Asean country. One of the contributing factor is that GST has made Singapore uncompetitive as a shopping destination.
I know that the Government will not remove GST. But I will still like to point out that it was a mistake for Singapore to introduce GST (and reduce income tax) in the first place. It is one factor that led to our economic decline.
Tan Kin Lian
From Wikipedia - GST in Hong Kong
Goods and Services Tax (GST) was a proposed Value Added Tax in Hong Kong. Consultation over a period of nine months was launched on 2006-07-19 and stirred considerable controversy.
It launched a fierce debate amongst local taxpayers, lawmakers, journalists, politicians, who hotly debated the need for the tax, and the shape any taxes should take. The plan to levy GST was dropped on 2006-12-05.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)