Malaysia GE13: a wishlist
As we get closer to the date (who knows when it will ever materialise .... talk about dragging it out), a new article on Malaysia Today links to a so-called campaign by Anas Zubedy called "No Free Rides" calls for Malaysians to write a letter to their MPs articulating what you would want and then based on their responses, vote for the one who agrees to your wishes (!).
Now, I'm rather conflicted about this guy - am not quite sure if he is naive, idealistic, has a hidden agenda, just doing this for attention (for his business) or all of the above.
He always comes across, to me anyway, as a mix of smarmy and sincere. Not a good combination, believe me.
Anyway, what he's calling for is not wrong - in an ideal world, that really should be how we decide on which politician to vote for.. but practically? Hmm..
Nonetheless, 'tis a good exercise to think through what each of us finds important. Ultimately, what we want is the best for our country, right?
So to start off - lets focus on the money side of things, this is a money & finance related blog after all, bite me:
Dear MP (both incumbent and aspirant)
(niceties omitted... cos Ain't Nobody Got Time For That!) hehe
When you are in Parliament, would you kindly implement the following changes via new legislation, issuance of guidelines and instructions to the relevant agencies for enforcement:
1. Taxes:
a) Please implement GST (goods & services tax) (gasp! I know right? Am I a closet Republican / Torie type?? Hell no) - mainly because it is fair on the middle class. The poor don't pay enough taxes and the rich manage to evade a lot of theirs. So GST is the way to go. Fair for everyone, spend more pay more, spend less pay less.
b) Abolish PAYE (pay as you earn) tax - I would prefer yearly filing and payment. Puts more money into circulation and keeps the government on its toes to audit thoroughly and diligently collect tax instead of passing the buck to employers to do the transmission; AND tax payers like yours truly our money taken away first. Oh yeah, if you implement GST, you can do away with PAYE.
c) Raise income taxes (gasp again! I'm on a roll here) - yes, you heard me. Raise it not by the rate but by eligibility threshold. In other words, lower the income threshold, thus making everyone liable to PAY tax. This way, you will be able to keep a record of everyone AND by having a tax record, the poorer guys can start to build up documentation for loans and other financing - thus enabling them to partake in the formal economy. This must go hand in hand with:
d) Increase the tax deductibles in the current plan - it is too simplistic and doesn't offer much leeway. While you are collecting more tax and information via (c) above, you can also give more deductibles so that at the end of the day, the net effect may be that at the lower rungs - there is actually more cash in their hand from rebates. Think of it as a forced savings for them.
e) Institute a wealth tax - all assets (liquid and illiquid) derived from criminal and corrupt means shall be levied a tax rate of 60% based on a voluntary and full disclosure (subject to a full audit nonetheless); 40% of wealth may be retained on the provision of retirement from public life and no further prosecution shall be initiated. If LHDN initiates the investigation i.e. involuntary disclosure, then the tax rate shall be levied at 95% with 5% to be retained AND further criminal prosecution may follow. You know which one you should choose, right?
2. Banking and Finance:
a) Risk based pricing for credit cards - the credit card guidelines are simplistic and frankly stupid in terms of fixed pricing. Let the banks decide how they want to charge based on risk behaviour. Why have such an arbitrary tiered pricing system? (actually I had inside experience of this but won't divulge further.. it's such a facepalm situation...)
b) Electronic cash - BNM keeps wanting to push this and it is a good tool to reduce physical cash in the system, means its harder to fund criminal activity without a paper trail. How to do it? VERY SIMPLE - mandate zero interchange fee for merchants for transactions below RM50 or even RM100. Force the merchant acquirers to waive it, they can make enough from the larger ticket sizes anyway. Another way is to fund or subsidise more cash-less acceptance systems like Touch & Go to be present in retail and F&B and mandate a very low or near zero commission charge; after all TnG is making quite a fair bit on the FLOAT that they have.
c) Forced declaration of cross-border funds i.e. override the banking secrecy of Swiss bank accounts for all political public figures and relatives for tax audit purposes. Tax levy in 1(d) above applies.
Think I'll stop here for now ... next will be on property rights and de-regulation & taxation of so-called vice industries, followed by crime and security.
Now, I'm rather conflicted about this guy - am not quite sure if he is naive, idealistic, has a hidden agenda, just doing this for attention (for his business) or all of the above.
He always comes across, to me anyway, as a mix of smarmy and sincere. Not a good combination, believe me.
Anyway, what he's calling for is not wrong - in an ideal world, that really should be how we decide on which politician to vote for.. but practically? Hmm..
Nonetheless, 'tis a good exercise to think through what each of us finds important. Ultimately, what we want is the best for our country, right?
So to start off - lets focus on the money side of things, this is a money & finance related blog after all, bite me:
Dear MP (both incumbent and aspirant)
(niceties omitted... cos Ain't Nobody Got Time For That!) hehe
When you are in Parliament, would you kindly implement the following changes via new legislation, issuance of guidelines and instructions to the relevant agencies for enforcement:
1. Taxes:
a) Please implement GST (goods & services tax) (gasp! I know right? Am I a closet Republican / Torie type?? Hell no) - mainly because it is fair on the middle class. The poor don't pay enough taxes and the rich manage to evade a lot of theirs. So GST is the way to go. Fair for everyone, spend more pay more, spend less pay less.
b) Abolish PAYE (pay as you earn) tax - I would prefer yearly filing and payment. Puts more money into circulation and keeps the government on its toes to audit thoroughly and diligently collect tax instead of passing the buck to employers to do the transmission; AND tax payers like yours truly our money taken away first. Oh yeah, if you implement GST, you can do away with PAYE.
c) Raise income taxes (gasp again! I'm on a roll here) - yes, you heard me. Raise it not by the rate but by eligibility threshold. In other words, lower the income threshold, thus making everyone liable to PAY tax. This way, you will be able to keep a record of everyone AND by having a tax record, the poorer guys can start to build up documentation for loans and other financing - thus enabling them to partake in the formal economy. This must go hand in hand with:
d) Increase the tax deductibles in the current plan - it is too simplistic and doesn't offer much leeway. While you are collecting more tax and information via (c) above, you can also give more deductibles so that at the end of the day, the net effect may be that at the lower rungs - there is actually more cash in their hand from rebates. Think of it as a forced savings for them.
e) Institute a wealth tax - all assets (liquid and illiquid) derived from criminal and corrupt means shall be levied a tax rate of 60% based on a voluntary and full disclosure (subject to a full audit nonetheless); 40% of wealth may be retained on the provision of retirement from public life and no further prosecution shall be initiated. If LHDN initiates the investigation i.e. involuntary disclosure, then the tax rate shall be levied at 95% with 5% to be retained AND further criminal prosecution may follow. You know which one you should choose, right?
2. Banking and Finance:
a) Risk based pricing for credit cards - the credit card guidelines are simplistic and frankly stupid in terms of fixed pricing. Let the banks decide how they want to charge based on risk behaviour. Why have such an arbitrary tiered pricing system? (actually I had inside experience of this but won't divulge further.. it's such a facepalm situation...)
b) Electronic cash - BNM keeps wanting to push this and it is a good tool to reduce physical cash in the system, means its harder to fund criminal activity without a paper trail. How to do it? VERY SIMPLE - mandate zero interchange fee for merchants for transactions below RM50 or even RM100. Force the merchant acquirers to waive it, they can make enough from the larger ticket sizes anyway. Another way is to fund or subsidise more cash-less acceptance systems like Touch & Go to be present in retail and F&B and mandate a very low or near zero commission charge; after all TnG is making quite a fair bit on the FLOAT that they have.
c) Forced declaration of cross-border funds i.e. override the banking secrecy of Swiss bank accounts for all political public figures and relatives for tax audit purposes. Tax levy in 1(d) above applies.
Think I'll stop here for now ... next will be on property rights and de-regulation & taxation of so-called vice industries, followed by crime and security.
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