Oct 19, 09 10:45am
ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) members recently gave their input on their expectations for Budget 2010 particularly in the area of increasing revenue for government, area to reduce tax burden, GST, e-filing and more.
"When we conducted this survey, we wanted to find out our members' opinion and expectation on the upcoming Budget 2010 and also seek their suggestions," said Jennifer Lopez, acting country head of ACCA Malaysia.
"For many years, ACCA published a tax publication called Easy Guide to Malaysian Tax and Accounting Information that provided updated tax information after the Prime Minister presented the Budget. This year instead of just compiling the information, we conducted a survey to get feedback from our members."
The survey which drew response of 417 ACCA members, were conducted in September.
Among the findings are:
59% of respondents believe the Government should increase 'sin' and luxury goods tax should money need to be raised further, while 27% believe that government should strengthen the implementation of collecting sales and services tax as way to increase more revenue for the government
91% of respondents agree that personal tax should be further reduced to boost confidence and encourage spending, which is critical to the retail sector and overall economic growth. The lower paid group would also appreciate this caring gesture by the government. Options of tax deferment, more personal rebates and reliefs are also recommended
75% of respondents believe that Malaysia is not yet ready for GST implement. Among the reason cites; systems are fully not ready, inadequate training and guidelines for implementation, and economy is still uncertain.
SME businesses is said to be most affected.
84% of the respondents said that more should be done to ensure the survival/growth rate of SME, while 54% of them believe that lower tax rate for SME will ensure the SME's growth and survival.
ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) members recently gave their input on their expectations for Budget 2010 particularly in the area of increasing revenue for government, area to reduce tax burden, GST, e-filing and more.
"When we conducted this survey, we wanted to find out our members' opinion and expectation on the upcoming Budget 2010 and also seek their suggestions," said Jennifer Lopez, acting country head of ACCA Malaysia.
"For many years, ACCA published a tax publication called Easy Guide to Malaysian Tax and Accounting Information that provided updated tax information after the Prime Minister presented the Budget. This year instead of just compiling the information, we conducted a survey to get feedback from our members."
The survey which drew response of 417 ACCA members, were conducted in September.
Among the findings are:
59% of respondents believe the Government should increase 'sin' and luxury goods tax should money need to be raised further, while 27% believe that government should strengthen the implementation of collecting sales and services tax as way to increase more revenue for the government
91% of respondents agree that personal tax should be further reduced to boost confidence and encourage spending, which is critical to the retail sector and overall economic growth. The lower paid group would also appreciate this caring gesture by the government. Options of tax deferment, more personal rebates and reliefs are also recommended
75% of respondents believe that Malaysia is not yet ready for GST implement. Among the reason cites; systems are fully not ready, inadequate training and guidelines for implementation, and economy is still uncertain.
SME businesses is said to be most affected.
84% of the respondents said that more should be done to ensure the survival/growth rate of SME, while 54% of them believe that lower tax rate for SME will ensure the SME's growth and survival.
Introduction of green taxes such as plastic bag tax, is ranked Number 1 in order for us to promote sustainable development and green initiatives. Green taxes will also spur technological innovation.
"It is interesting to note that green tax is highlighted by our members in the survey. We hope the announcement made by the Minister for Energy, Green Technology and Water in August 2009 about government working on proposal to give additional tax and tariff incentives will be reflected in the Budget 2010," said Lopez.
"Measures to ensure and protect the government's revenue base should not just be focused on increasing tax rates and withdraw some incentives. More focus should be given on strengthening the implementation of collecting sales and services tax. The main issue is enforcement .... weak enforcement can cause the
Government to lose money and incur extra expenses."
- Bernama