The government thought it was being clever in announcing the impending GST hike early. The calculus: by giving Singaporeans at least three years’ heads-up, they would have time to bite the bullet and brace themselves for a GST increase to 9%.
But all of a sudden, Malaysia’s Barisan Nasional lost power after 61 years and the new coalition government has already swiftly kept its promise to abolish the mightily unpopular 6% GST. And let’s throw into the mix the promise by the Workers’ Party to make the GST hike a hot topic for the next general elections.
So what does the government do? If they press on and declare that the GST hike must go ahead as planned, it could spell a bit of trouble for them at the polls because Singaporeans by and large remain unconvinced of the necessity for the GST hike.
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Tale of 2 Finance Ministers: One abolishes GST while the other increases
Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who became the 7th PM of Malaysia on Thurs (10 May) announced yesterday (12 May) that Lim Guan Eng, also the deputy president of Pakatan, would be the new Finance Minister of Malaysia. The Star reported that Lim's appointment as Finance Minister has been lauded by businessmen and observers.
The new Pakatan government is expected to abolish the highly unpopular GST imposed by the previous Najib's government. This was promised by Pakatan during the election campaign. In Feb this year, just three months before the Malaysia GE14, Lim warned that with GST, it would run the ever increasing risk of GST hike every time the government needs money ('Guan Eng: S’pore GST hike shows PH right to promise abolition').
Meanwhile in Feb this year, Police scholar and Singapore's Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat announced a GST hike from the current 7 to 9 per cent, which is slated to be implemented after 2020. Speaking at a forum organized by Mediacorp, Heng said Singaporeans need to understand that the GST hike is necessary and being done for a “very important purpose” - to finance Singapore’s "growing expenditure needs". When asked how he would alleviate the worries expressed by the ordinary Singaporeans about the GST hike, he said, "I appreciate their concerns but it is important to understand why we need to do this."
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M’sia to scrap GST from 1 Jun and curtail expenditure while S’pore to up GST and borrow for mega projects
Malaysia’s new government announced yesterday (16 May) that it would abolish the Goods & Service Tax from 1 June next month. The move is likely to spur consumer spending but may put pressure on its fiscal position. However, Zeti Akhthar Aziz, a senior adviser to the Malaysian government, earlier had said that Malaysia would be able to reduce the fiscal deficit by controlling expenditure in the absence of GST. Disgruntled Malaysians have been blaming the GST for their rising living costs, since it was imposed in 2015 by the Najib's government.
Meanwhile, at the second session of the 13th Parliament also yesterday, Singapore's Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said that new funding ideas for mega infrastructure projects are on the cards, "particularly through borrowing arrangements" by statutory boards and government-owned companies. "We will leverage the strength of our financial position to optimise our borrowing, and invest sustainably in longer-term infrastructure that will position Singapore well for the future,” he said. One of the mega projects to be financed through borrowings is the upcoming T5 Airport Terminal. It constitutes part of the mega Changi East project.
GST to increase from 7 to 9% - Already, the Singapore government has signaled that it will increase the GST from the current 7 to 9% after 2020, about 2 years' time, so as to help increase the government's revenue. But it appears that it will not be enough to meet Singapore's " growing expenditure needs".
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Questions Raised about Singapore’s GST Hike as Malaysia Slashes GST to Zero Percent
Malaysia has slashed Goods and Service tax from 6 percent to zero percent. The change will be implemented from 1 June this year. The move comes as questions are raised about Singapore’s impending GST hike by 2 percentage points.
Across the Causeway, the removal of GST was down to a promise by newly-elected prime minister Mahathir Mohamad that he would remove the consumption tax to address rising cost of living. Zeti Akhthar Aziz, the former central bank governor and presently a senior adviser to the Malaysian government, said that Malaysia would be able to reduce its fiscal deficit by controlling expenditure in the absence of GST. Ms Zeti said that the government will re-prioritise projects, increase efficiency and reduce wastage in the public sector.
In Singapore, the GST hike here to 9 percent is set to take place sometime between 2021 to 2025. This was announced by Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat in this year’s Budget (Feb 19). He said that said the GST increase is “necessary because even after exploring various options to manage our future expenditures through prudent spending, saving and borrowing for infrastructure, there is still a gap”. The exact timing will depend on three factors: the state of Singapore’s economy, how much the country’s expenditures grow, and how buoyant Singapore’s existing taxes are. Mr Heng said he expects that the Government will need to raise GST earlier rather than later.
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Malaysia plans to scrap GST from June 1 in the hope of promoting spending
Malaysia’s new government on Wednesday said it would reduce a goods and services tax to zero from June 1, effectively abolishing it, a move that is likely to spur spending in the Southeast Asian nation but put pressure on its fiscal position.
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who won last week’s general election, had vowed during the campaign to get rid of the 6 per cent GST to address the rising cost of living. Ousted leader Najib Razak had introduced the tax in 2015 amid lower oil prices.
GST would be zero-rated from June 1, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Wednesday. Mahathir had also promised to reintroduce fuel subsidies, which along with the GST removal, could widen Malaysia’s fiscal deficit.
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Dr M: SST back by Sept 1
The Sales and Services Tax (SST) will resume on September 1. — Picture by Choo Choy May
The Sales and Services Tax (SST) will resume on September 1, said Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. The tax regime is meant to replace the Goods and Services Tax (GST) that will be zero-rated across the board on June 1. The prime minister told a press conference following the weekly Cabinet meeting today that his administration was now focusing on the country’s finances with an eye on delivering Pakatan Harapan’s 100-day pledges.
“Zero rate GST will start on June 1, and will be abolished and replaced with SST on September 1, 2018,” he said. When asked what the SST rate imposed will be, Dr Mahathir said, “We will study it the rate before was 10 per cent. “We will find out the implication of levying it at 10 per cent,” he said. On May 16, the Finance Ministry announced that the GST will be set at zero per cent beginning June 1.
This decision does not include goods and services listed in the Goods and Services Tax (Exempt Supply) Order 2014, which remain exempted from GST. Dr Mahathir said the price of goods is expected to drop due to the zero-rated GST. “I expect traders, especially retailers, to sell things at a much lower price certainly, 6 per cent less,” he said.
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Guan Eng: S’pore GST hike shows PH right to promise abolition
DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng says the Singaporean government’s decision to hike up its goods and services tax (GST) bears out Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) stated intention to eradicate the tax in Malaysia if it takes over Putrajaya.
The Penang chief minister said the island republic’s move confirms the worldwide trend for the tax’s rate to increase once it had been imposed.
He said the only solution to prevent the rate from going up was to terminate the tax.
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Replacing GST with SST will ‘return RM17bil to Malaysians’ says Guan Eng
Replacing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) with the Sales and Services Tax (SST) will return RM17bil to Malaysians, says the Finance Minister, even as he announced a slew of cost of living measures.
At a press conference Thursday, Lim Guan Eng (pic) confirmed that the GST would be zero-rated beginning June 1.
“The SST will be tabled in Parliament and is slated to start on Sept 1, 2018. “All this is expected to return RM17bil to ordinary Malaysians for the rest of the year,” he said.
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3 Common Misconceptions About GST & SST, And Why They're Wrong
After announcing the reduction of GST from 6% to zero beginning June 1, the government then announced the reintroduction of SST at date to be announced.
Predictably, confusion among the Malaysian public regarding the upcoming changes caused a number of inaccurate statements to appear. We address 3 major misconceptions and attempt to set things straight:
- The GST goes away on June 1, and the SST will also return on June 1
- “SST will mean lower product prices” vs “SST will mean higher product prices”
- “But the government will have a shortage of income to pay off our national debt.”
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SST vs GST – What are the Differences
Malaysia will remove the GST from June 1 and reintroduce the SST.
What is SST and how does it differ from GST?
SST stands for Sales and Services Tax while GST is the abbreviation for Goods and Services Tax. As their names suggest, both are consumption taxes.
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The differences between GST and SST
PM Lee said PAP mad to raise GST in GE2015 but now says they’re giving notice for raising GST
On Sat (19 May), PM Lee rushed to KL and managed to talk to the new Malaysian PM Mahathir for half an hour. PM Lee went to KL to personally congratulate Dr Mahathir Bin Mohamad for his coalition's historic win at the recent Malaysian GE14.
After the meeting, PM Lee was interviewed by reporters. When asked if Malaysia's move to abolish the GST would make it harder for Singapore government to sell its GST hike to Singaporeans, PM Lee said that the circumstances are different.
PM Lee stressed that his Government is taking the planned GST hike “very seriously”. "We’ve given a lot of notice. I think there's time to explain and there's time to work out how exactly we will make sure that Singaporeans are given the right support in order to be able to live with the new tax,” he said.
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Companies in the dark about adjusting prices during GST hike
After a long period of time, Singapore will raise its Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate by 2 ppt from 7% to 9%, but it didn’t give a specific date. The government only said that it will raise the tax between 2021 and 2025, leaving businesses and consumers asking when should they expect the prices of goods to climb up.
Jochen Krauss, managing partner at global pricing consultancy Simon-Kucher & Partners, told Singapore Business Review that there's high uncertainty about what the magnitude and timing of the tax hike. “That's what we know, and that's the uncertainty that businesses now have to think about. How do I approach this? Do I just stay firm and wait for more things to come?” he added.
Before Budget 2018, a hike in the GST rate was a hot topic as analysts have previously forecasted that the government will introduce the rate hike staggeredly in order to soften the blow to companies. Despite that, a lot of businesses are still in the dark on how to react to the tax hike.
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Heng Swee Keat’s tax plan contradicts PM Lee’s views on GST hike during GE2015
Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat announced that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will increase by 2 per cent, as he delivered Budget 2018 yesterday. This tax hike will raise the GST from 7 per cent to 9 per cent and will be implemented sometime between 2021 and 2025, most likely after the next General Election.
The tax hike comes as no surprise to many – several political observers predicted the move in the run-up to Budget 2018 and the GST increase was expected to be one of the biggest announcements during the budget speech yesterday.
However, the sharp contrast between Heng Swee Keat’s tax plan as unveiled yesterday and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s views on a possible GST hike during the 2015 General Election is notable. On 5 Sept 2015, just a few days before Singaporeans went to the polls, PM Lee said at the PAP Headquarters: “What will make you need to raise GST? Profligate spending and irresponsible, unsustainable plans. That is what will hurt and require you to raise taxes and GST.”
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GST hike is done for 'important purpose', says Heng Swee Keat at post-Budget forum
While he recognises the concerns surrounding the planned increase in the Goods & Services Tax (GST), Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said that Singaporeans need to understand that the tax hike is necessary and being done for a “very important purpose” - to finance the country’s growing expenditure needs.
He was speaking to reporters on Wednesday (Feb 21) after a post-Budget forum held at Mediacorp.
Mr Heng on Monday delivered the Budget for 2018, which he described as a “strategic & integrated financial plan to position Singapore for the future”. With a focus on longer-term challenges, the all-encompassing Budget included measures targeted at the economy, society, environment & maintaining the country’s fiscal sustainability.
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High living cost, job security a worry for Singaporeans: Reach
Singaporeans are concerned about the high cost of living here & worry that it may deter young people from starting families or having big families.
Job security is also on their minds amid a slower economy.
These are the findings of an annual survey by government feedback unit Reach, conducted ahead of this year's Budget announcement.
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GST hike is done for 'important purpose', says Heng Swee Keat
The GST hike from 7 to 9%, slated to take hold sometime from 2021 to 2025, was the hot topic among Singaporeans who got a chance to ask the finance minister questions about the Budget on Wednesday.
Most raised concerns about the potential rise in living costs, such as in the area of childcare, and whether there will be adequate wage growth to help Singaporeans cope with that.
When asked how he would alleviate these worries felt by the man on the street, Mr Heng said: “I appreciate their concerns but it is important to understand why we need to do this.”
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Govt to look at ‘most optimal way’ to fund mega projects: Indranee
The Government has to look for the “most optimal way” to finance new mega projects & would not rule out “different ways” of securing the funding, Senior Minister of State for Law & Finance Indranee Rajah told Parliament on Tuesday (Feb 6).
Her comments came as the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the airline industry’s most prominent trade body, publicly objected to suggestions in media reports that Singapore could charge travellers and airlines new or higher fees to help fund the construction of the new Changi Airport Terminal 5 (T5).
“We shouldn’t pay first without having the infrastructure ready to be operated & used by airlines and by the users,” Mr Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s chief executive, told reporters on the sidelines of the ongoing Singapore Airshow on Monday (Feb 5).
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GST set to rise to 9% as S'pore plans for future spending needs
A hike in the goods & services tax (GST), the first move to do so in 10 years, was confirmed yesterday in a Budget that laid the ground for challenges ahead, even as a surplus of $9.6 billion was declared that made a "hongbao" cash payout possible.
GST will rise from 7% to 9%, but it will take effect only some time from 2021 to 2025, depending "on the state of the economy, how much our expenditures grow and how buoyant our existing taxes are", Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said yesterday.
To cushion the impact on the elderly & those with lower incomes, the permanent GST Voucher scheme will get a $2 billion boost this year. There will also be an offset package to help people adjust to the increase.
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SINGAPORE TO RAISE GST FOR FIRST TIME IN DECADE DESPITE SURPLUS – BUT TAXPAYERS WON’T FEEL PAIN FOR AT LEAST THREE YEARS
Singapore will hike its goods and services tax by two percentage points, the finance minister said on Monday, the first such move in a decade as the cash-rich government cited the need to pre-emptively increase revenue amid surging health care, security and infrastructure spending.
The decision to raise the GST to 9 per cent was widely expected, but the curveball announcement that the change would be stayed until “sometime” between 2021 and 2025 drew praise from observers for being politically astute. The window falls beyond the current government’s term, which ends in January 2021.
“The exact timing will depend on the state of the economy, how much our expenditures grow, and how buoyant our existing taxes are,” Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat told parliament as he announced the 2018 budget.
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How much additional revenue can S'pore get from raising GST and other taxes?
In the lead-up to Budget 2018, much public discussion has centred on the prospect of higher taxes — so much so that Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said on Monday (Jan 22) that the Budget is not about taxes or handing out “goodies”.
Nevertheless, with social & healthcare spending expected to continue rising as the Singapore population ages, the Government has to find new sources of revenue to fund ever-growing investments including in public infrastructure.
The Government’s expenditure has more than doubled from S$33 billion in the 2007 financial year to S$71 billion in FY2016. Several national leaders have said it was a matter of time before taxes have to be raised.
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The Impact of Potential Goods and Services Tax (GST) Hike on Businesses in Singapore
Singapore’s taxation policy is anchored on the philosophy that the operational costs of running the government are borne by its citizens, who, in turn, shall reap the benefits derived from governmental services.
In line with this, Singapore strives to pursue a comprehensive policy on taxation as it levies taxes on as many individual taxpayers as possible. Recently, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, speaking at the People’s Action Party Convention, hinted at a potential tax hike, signifying the need to raise taxes in view of the country’s growing expenditures and government’s key investments on infrastructure, healthcare, public transport network and social services for economic growth.
GST Hike in Singapore: An Inevitable Occurrence - Following this speech by the Prime Minister, tax experts theorised potential changes to Singapore’s current tax regime, which likely features a raise in the goods and services tax (GST) from 7% to 9% in the 2018 Budget. Mr. Francis Tan, a UOB economist, stated that since Singapore’s GST rate has remained at 7% for the last ten years since 2007, an eventual increase may be underway. GST is being targeted as a significant source of revenue, as last year’s GST collection remained the second highest contributor to governmental revenues in the fiscal year of 2016. Further, estimated GST collections for the fiscal year of 2017 amount to $11.25 billion, which is almost 16% of the overall estimated operating revenues of the government.
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MPs worry about impact of GST hike
The goods & services tax (GST) hike is to take place between 2021 & 2025, but several MPs are already asking the Government if more could be done to ease the burden on the more vulnerable groups.
Some asked if the hike could be postponed, should the economy do better than expected. The groups that concern them most are the low-income, retirees & small businesses.
Among the 28 MPs who spoke at yesterday's sitting, at least 10 touched on GST-related issues.
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Policies, politics and paranoia: Singapore Democratic Party chairman Paul Tambyah goes On the Record
He is referring to WP chairman Sylvia Lim being asked to apologise to the House earlier this year for alleging that the Government had floated “test balloons” before announcing an impending Goods & Services Tax hike. I put it to him that most ruling parties would consider it a natural instinct to defend their policies & make a point of it if they feel the other parties are trying to cast aspersions on their intentions.
“But still, there has to be some degree of balance because otherwise it’s going to backfire. The whole Sylvia Lim example, I think it won Sylvia a lot of sympathy points - the fact that people are trying to make her apologise for asking an honest question. You can say that the question is a stupid question, you can try to criticise her for that, but trying to make her apologise for asking a question seems to be a little bit like shooting yourself in the foot because it makes you come across like a bully.
“In a parliamentary democracy, if somebody asks you a question, you can make them look small or really silly, but to treat every question as an attack on your own personal integrity, to me, that's bordering a little bit on paranoia.”
The 'GST Float Balloon' Saga
The labour movement has confirmed that it conducted a poll towards the end of last year to gather feedback from union leaders on issues such as training & taxes, ahead of the annual Budget.
Along with input gathered through focus group discussions & dialogue sessions, the feedback was used to inform the National Trades Union Congress workplan for this year & its labour MPs' positions. But the results of the poll were not presented to the Government.
The NTUC's Ong Teng Cheong Labour Leadership Institute said this on Wednesday (March 14) in response to queries from The Straits Times, after a selection of tax-related questions from the poll were posted on sociopolitical website The Online Citizen on Sunday (March 11).
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Full Coverage:
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Budget 2018: A big sorry non-debate
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GST hike: Damned if they do
