YOURSAY | “Indecision and poor planning spun as listening to the people.”
COMMENT | Ah Hock in the moving goalpost economy
Vijay47: I am not a hardware dealer like Ah Hock, but an occasional customer.
Congratulations to the Institute of Strategic Analysis and Policy Research director, Woon King Chai. You have provided a case study that all of us can relate to - simple, with equally simple examples that we can easily identify and understand.
The government, or rather the Madani government, may be expecting bouquets for constantly revising policies, rates, and amounts “in response to input from the rakyat”.
This sounds noble, but as Wong has well explained, it can prove a real pain. Why can’t you think before you leap?
A similar situation exists at the Inland Revenue Board (IRB), but I would like to first acknowledge that its officers can be extremely pleasant and helpful.
It is the institutional monster that I have beef with.
When a new tax or procedure is introduced, the IRB would issue guidelines to guide us through the uncharted terrain.
That’s fine. But very often, at times within a few months, we are given fresh understanding and directions to follow.
This can obviously be confusing, especially in the face of repeated changes. We are left wondering, “Do we now turn left or right?”
Hrrmph: The roll-out of e-invoicing is confusing, burdensome, and complicated.
The IRB is having seminars after seminars to acquaint various industries with the requirements unique to their area, and we are still walking out of these with many questions unanswered.
At the same time, the government keeps warning us about the penalties of failure to comply.
The fact is that most of us do intend to comply, but we do not know how to! The requirements are complex!
The big companies have the wherewithal to pay for experts in the area. The rest of us don’t and are hoping to cope by buying some basic software and rudimentary training from mostly accounting firms. Is it enough?
By contrast, the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST), which I thought was badly done, now looks like a breeze compared to e-invoicing.
The government then managed to resolve a lot of hiccups within the first six months of implementation, and thereafter, things moved on pretty smoothly, save for the issue of refunds.
Way easier to understand and to implement, and does not involve us changing our decades-long way of preparing invoices to the one and only one the government approves of.
Fitting all kinds of industry into one template without taking into account the peculiarities of each industry.
But because of politics, yes, it is nothing more than politics, the opposition parties used the mess that was the implementation of GST to “sandiwara” (fool) the electorate into thinking it was the cause of the increase in cost.
The increase was really due to the world economy, the bad implementation, and the greed of businesses taking advantage of the change.
At the end of the day, all political parties are the same. They are not above hedging the truth and playing salesperson to get elected.
Tax is as inevitable as breathing. We just want the person in charge to be truthful, honest, and implement the best system.
Currently, e-invoicing is so much work and money down the drain for a system that is not even as effective as GST. And we are still paying the same amount of tax!
Cogito Ergo Sum: It is estimated that 80 percent of businesses in Malaysia are small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
They are mostly run by Chinese families or a small group of family members, and they provide the crucial supply chain to big enterprises and multinational corporations (MNCs).
If the SMEs face difficulties, the entire supply chain is disrupted.
Instead of lending a very gracious and generous hand to this sector, all previous administrations and the current one have ignored this vital cog in the link.
Myopic short-term policies for decades have caused this sector to collapse in slow motion, with many just leaving and dropping out of the production cycle.
The economic pie is getting smaller and smaller.
BluePanther4725: Small businesses need more help from the government.
But the landlord rental business, especially by Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), is causing a lot of harm to the businesses.
Small shops are closing down due to unchecked high rental hikes.
There is no law to govern rentals and to control hikes. The government is not doing enough to help the poor and those in the middle-income group.
The government is letting the rich and big corporations dictate the market and engage in unfair monopolies.
Tax for the ultra-rich individuals and corporate tax for big corporations should be increased, and the money to help the lower and middle classes.
The government does not have a good and sustainable plan to improve our lives at present. Corruption is unchecked.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has failed in his role as the finance minister, and worse, he has forced the capable Rafizi Ramli, who was a capable economy minister, out.
All the wrong moves by Anwar.
MarioT: I pity the SMEs having to go through so much uncertainty and policy changes to stay in business.
They serve as the lifeline of retail and wholesale business, which we rely on so much to keep the supply chain affordable and readily available.
The fluctuations of trade parameters have ruined quite a number of businesses.
Without proper control to provide a conducive business environment that can allow these SMEs to work with rules that do not change so often, it can jeopardise this lifeline on which we depend so much.
VioletOrca0545: The government has been acting deaf to protect its ego. The rakyat have spoken.
Bring back GST and eliminate all these roundabout ways of trying to achieve the same result as GST. GST is still the most efficient way to ensure taxes are applied where they are necessary. Why do e-invoice?
It’s because you’re trying to determine the correct amount of tax based on income and expenditure.
A proper GST system would have ensured you are taxed the first time rightly, and allow you to focus on what is missing.
The whole sales and services tax (SST) mess, after so long it has been implemented, yet there are still so many teething problems made worse by the constant changes.
Bluemountains: I really empathise with the SMEs who are just trying to make ends meet.
Shifting the goalposts every so often is a clear sign that the people in charge are doing things by trial and error.
It signifies that our policymakers are mediocre at best and not fit for the jobs!
GrayWhale9636: Indecision and poor planning spun as listening to the people. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.