On GST
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List of essential food items I would include:
1. Sugar
2. Salt
3. Milk
4. Flour
5. Rice
6. Cooking Oil
I really find d gahmen’s line dat GST is to help d poor, n d Minister’s statement
dat reducing GST will hurt d poor more than d wealthy hard to digest.
Granted dat d wealthy n middle class will consume more n therefore pay more GST in absolute $ terms.
For food essentials, there can’t be a very wide disparity between d wealthy, middle class n poor,
since a person can only consume so much food on a daily basis.
Food would take up a relatively high proportion of a poor family’s income compared to a middle class
and to an even lesser degree, a weathy family’s income.
Say a lower income family dat takes home $1,200 per month n spends 70% on food.
U would deduce dat dis family pays $58.80 on 7% GST. But is it only 7% tax paid by d end consumer?
Wat about d GST paid by suppliers further up d food supply chain?
If say, d food importer pays 7%,n d food distributor n retailer each in turn pays 7% on top of d 7% previously paid,
d total GST cost passed on to d end consumer would be 22% ie instead of $58.80, d poor chap is paying $189 tax on $840 spent on food. Dat’s a tax rate even higher than entry income tax.
Why impose n collect a regressive tax on essential food items on d one hand n hand out rebates with d other?
Why not just waive GST for essential food items? We will get cheaper food n everybody, especially our poor brethren n d middle class struggling to hold on to its middle class living, will be happier for it.
Wat do u all say? -
Say already so? Don’t think will do anything to the GST, so what to say?
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dont think gst will be removed totally. so prefer to keep it at either 7% or lower. definitely not any higher.
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Oppsgal:
Say already so? Don't think will do anything to the GST, so what to say?
u never know. d ground swell dat came up against reducing d MT weightage% in PSLE
is a beacon of hope dat citizens' concerns will be heard.
If we say nothing, nothing will change. -
if remove/drop GST, then have to implement new tax scheme or increase income tax & remove rebates.... lagi cham also...
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LOLMum:
dont think gst will be removed totally. so prefer to keep it at either 7% or lower. definitely not any higher.
Can we say it won't go higher if d we agree with d argument dat
GST is to help d poor?
If we accept dis argument, then shouldn't GST be increased to help d poor more? -
Yong HL:
if remove/drop GST, then have to implement new tax scheme or increase income tax & remove rebates.... lagi cham also...
No I am not advocating removing GST altogether,
only on essential food items - dat shd help our poor brethen most,
n some middle class families. -
[quote="Wat about d GST paid by suppliers further up d food supply chain?
If say, d food importer pays 7%,n d food distributor n retailer each in turn pays 7% on top of d 7% previously paid,
d total GST cost passed on to d end consumer would be 22% ie instead of $58.80, d poor chap is paying $189 tax on $840 spent on food. Dat’s a tax rate even higher than entry income tax.[/quote]
GST dont work by adding up the whole supply chain. Traders are just collecting agents. End result is the consumers are the ones paying GST. -
raynreg:
u r correct on d collecting agents' part. Dat's an illustration.
GST dont work by adding up the whole supply chain. Traders are just collecting agents. End result is the consumers are the ones paying GST.
If d trader is not GST registered, he will simply add in d GST cost to him n pass on d mark-up to d consumer.
End consumers will end up paying more than 7% tax d longer d supply chain. -
Whatever is the rate just pay. Somehow, even if GST is to be lowered, govt must generate income from other sources. End result still no difference.
Since we are on this material planet, we simply cannot rely on our pay to retire comfortably.
As one moves closer to retirement age, second/passive income must be able to sustain our way of life.
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