Lower GST, online wet market, satay club !?

One of the debatable issues in GE - reduction of GST. Matter of fact, the rate of tax of Singapore's value-added tax (VAT) otherwise known as Goods & Services Tax (GST) is among one of those lowest in the world at flat rate of 7% , should a supply of goods / services be triggered in Singapore. Note: not every single service provider charges GST, but only the traders who register themselves with IRAS can levy the 7% on the value of goods services provided. And SG has a relatively low income tax rate for individual & corporate bodies ( low to the extent that we're considered by some nations as 'tax haven' at some point in time.

Read that the opposition party contesting for my vote had called for lower GST - and to review the 'simplictic GST' structure.. Uhm, easier said than done .. Wa.. If it's as easy as what Mr Lim has proposed - maybe to the man on street - low or no tax is good news .

Taxes - direct & indirect provide source of revenue for a country. Question - if indirect tax is reduced, by what measure will the government maintain/ sustain its revenue? Increase direct tax - lower rate of GST may lead to increase in income tax rate... Won't that be worse? Also changes in rate of tax will bring about another set of business costs - changes to the invoicing/ ticketing system to track the different rates to be applied to different category of goods; educating the staff on the tax treatment of different category of goods and services.. Risk of wrong treatment - penalty from Iras. Trust me, GST, in the eyes of Mr Lim may be'simplistic' but if that's really the case, quite a number of people here in SG doing GST advisory work will be out of job ( yours truly included). i can imagine the extra work (and potential errors) should our GST system emulate that of UK - in which SG's GST was modelled under. But then again, my market value will increase .. (and so will my workload!)

Also higher corporate tax means higher business cost, which affects SG's attractiveness to investors.. If the corporations decided to pull out, won't that affect our jobs? Also, we have to pay more tax!!! ;(


Compared to the VAT rate in european countries, Japan or Australia, 7% ain't that high! Even malaysia's GST is 10%! VAT rates per wikipedia

sigh.. What other promises that the Caltex-audi is offering? I don't need a 'online wet market' or satay club, which Mr Desmond lim promised to Punggol East, Mr Sydney indicated that the Punggol East plan will be replicated here too.. huh!!?
Online 'wet' market? I can poke at the gills of the fish thru my pc's screen to ascertain freshness? Ooh the MP elected will be my personal grocery shopper! But then again, won't such 'fresh produce spree' jeopardize the hawkers' business n thereby reducing their income and hence add to the income disparity?

Tsk tsk tsk...

Oh, it was mentioned that in my GRC, the sercurity is very lax ... But I feel safe & my lil act of crossing the road at inappropriate timing of the traffic light can get picked up shows that the TP is working rite? Oo and I often see the patrol car roaming in pasir Ris park during my evening weekend runs to check on the crowd. Please don't depict my neighbourhood as a gangster paradise . ;(