Unfair Strategies by Madayan Gomen

 Adapted from something I received this morning. Someone else wrote this but I have modified slightly. You will most likely know my modifications. Plus my comments in blue.

1. In the past few days, the gomen has announced some new measures targeting the T20 group based on a centralized database Pangkalan Data Utama (PADU) which is a household socioeconomic database. By any standards, these are unfair measures that focus on petrol consumption, energy consumption and water tariff. The gomen is managing the country's finances through politically correct strategies rather than doing the right thing. It is about winning favours for votes from the masses by bashing up the T20.

2. T20 group are already paying a high tax bracket and these taxes are subsidising the B40 and M40 groups. The additional measures are discriminatory in nature. The issue is not the cost of subsidy but rather the cost of inefficient government. 

(OSTB : The religious establishments do not pay taxes. How come? If you are a religious establishment or you are a religious organisation that collects donations and other revenue, you are exempted from paying taxes. WHY? I see the religious fellows also have big fat pot bellies and drive flashy cars. Yet they pay no taxes. You call this fair? What about the 'you cant touch them' people. Those people get paid tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands but they pay no taxes. How come? They also make money from businesses. I hope their businesses pay their share of taxes as well).

3. The gomen to date has failed to show any significant effort towards economic expansions. Many statements made by the country's political leaders are not reflected in the nation's economic indicators. The cost of living remains high, the stock market remains sluggish, and national food production agendas remain unmonitored. Other than the feel-good feeling that the people are being fed daily, the government has yet to come out with any decent expansionary revenue generation program. We have not heard of any policies issued to promote both domestic and Foreign Direct and Indirect Investments. There have not been any announcements of high-multiplier economic activities. Rather than managing the issues at the source, the consumers are unfairly targeted.

4. The government needs to review its approach. The issue is not about the unfair subsidy that goes to the T20 but rather the inefficient and unsustainable business model that led to the high water and electric generation. Currently, utility pricing is based on consumption and tiered rates. The T20 and upper M40 would likely consume more and hence pay more. 

5. Foreigners are still pumping gas at our petrol pump. Why can't we impose a petrol levy at the border for all foreign-registered vehicles? A flat rate of RM50 would still be cheaper for foreign cars than filling up their vehicle in their home country. This way we don't need a complicated system to address this matter. This will help Malaysian consumers.

6.  We have to be realistic about the gomen's current performance status. It's time for the gomen to buck up. It needs to focus on cost reduction and have a fairer system in collecting taxes from those who do not pay taxes.

OSTB: Why punish those who actually pay the taxes? The gomen's tax revenue is only about 50% of the annual Budget. The other half is from non-tax revenue or is borrowed (by the gomen issuing tens of billion Ringgit in bonds which are usually subscribed by the pension funds using our public funds). 

Without people who pay taxes the gomen is quite dead. And the bumiputera economy is still almost 100% dependent on the gomen's fiscal spending (for projek dan kontrak). 

If you destroy the country's tax payers or impose insane levels of taxation on the businesses and individuals who generate the gomen's tax revenue then you are only putting sand in your own rice bowl (menabur pasir dalam periuk nasi sendiri).

In this country there are a very, very large number of people who ARE EXEMPTED FROM PAYING TAXES. 

If you earn less than RM3,000  a month you dont have to pay taxes. 

If you are part of the religious establishment you dont pay taxes. 

The untouchables do not pay taxes.   

There are other groups as well. 

Fine. They dont pay taxes its ok. 

So PLEEEEEASE SAY A BIG THANK YOU to those people who do pay taxes. 

And dont burden them with more taxes. Instead learn to make their lives easier so that they will invest more, so that they will embark on new profitable enterprises, so that they will be motivated to work harder to make more profits and then contribute even more taxes. 

DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME, RESOURCES AND DESTROY THE ECONOMY BY FOCUSSING ON HOW TO COLLECT MORE TAXES. 

INSTEAD FOCUS ALL YOUR ENERGIES ON HOW TO GROW THE PRIVATE SECTOR ECONOMY SO THAT THE ECONOMY WILL BECOME MORE PROFITABLE AND THEN CONTRIBUTE MORE TAXES.

Jangan focus macam mana nak petik buah rambutan saja. Lebih baik fokus macam mana cara terbaik untuk menyuburkan tanah kebun dan membantu pokok rambutan tumbuh besar dan sihat untuk menghasilkan buah rambutan yang lebat. 

And once you have collected the taxes do not waste the tax collections on useless expenditure like the following for your own political survival: 

Gomen spent RM6.1m on Aidilfitri Open House in Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu.

Kedah's Open House recorded highest cost of RM3.1 million 

Kelantan and Terengganu each cost RM1.5 million.

So you waste the taxpayers funds in useless political gimmicks. And then you say the tax collection is not enough. 

Finally here is another classic parody by DD Sulaiman.