taxing the rich is not the way

last SG · 2008-08-04T19:10:16+00:00

Cannot leh, Save till you got $$ to buy picanto, your girlfriend will go choose the Ang mor and say bye bye to you.

Melbournite SG

Singapore needs the rich to come in and start businesse and investments . So i agree that taxing the rich is not the way. But certain things could be done like eg. the civil service salaries could be reduced. Taxing foreigners on their salaries to feed the local population . Maintain a fixed taxation on middle income workforce

I believe our revenue can only b earned from foreigners and at the same time giving them the same priviledges once they take up citizenship.

This is the only way S'pore can survive iin the next 50 years. IMO.

alwaysdisturbed SG

the rule makers are not listening. why bother to suggest.

anyway they are paid millions. some may think they don't produce the best solutions but what we can do is just let them have a run for their money.

Mostwanted5125 SG

I believe our revenue can only b earned from foreigners and at the same time giving them the same priviledges once they take up citizenship.

This is the only way S'pore can survive iin the next 50 years. IMO.

Can u give figures to how much the rich foreigners are taxed?? And comparision to country like Germany, Britian or even ur beloved Australier???

Mostwanted5125 SG

Hi, Melbournite cum Aussie lover....U still have yet to back ur argument up with concrete facts....Dun give me bullSH!T like only idiots believe in statistics....these are reply of the losers....

Melbournite SG

Can u give figures to how much the rich foreigners are taxed?? And comparision to country like Germany, Britian or even ur beloved Australier???

The rich are defintely taxed higher here than in singapore. Btw this thread is not about me claiming the rich should not be taxed, I am saying they should not be taxed like intheir own countries because we can accomodate them in singapore. We need them to contribute to the economy. Like eg. i know for a fact the some of the rich want to escape the high taxation in their own countries but Singapore can give them residence if they agree to invest or start a business.. I think such a scheme is avaialble already, just that the details i am not so sure of.

Mostwanted5125 SG

Spore has limited land my dear,...and I believe spore did not tax them as much as they are back home...otherwise only fool would migrate.

Also , if we dont tax them more than average sporean....then our govt is truly incapable of defending sporean rights.

So are u giving a chance for PAP to get flame again if they were to shield the rich foreigners like what u said...of taxing them less.???

Melbournite SG

shielding them is not a bad thing, we can offer them likeother incentives like if they were to invest in something they get some profits but paying us back some as well form time time through things like corporate tax

Sialution SG

maybe we should not only look at taxing them...

think about how much they spend if we keep them in singapore. this way, economics multipler effects of spending etc kicks in and more jobs can be created...

the Bear SG

well, what then? do the MIW way and tax the poor?

Sialution SG

well, me can't answer this question.. me not earning millions and coming out with stupid "solutions". but one thing I'm sure is that those earning millions sure know how to suck money from everyone, so just leave this job of sucking ppl money, especially rich foreigners, to these million dollars suckers...

oxford mushroom SG

When 60% of the population does not pay income tax, raising the tax on those who do will only serve to drive away those who contribute most to the nation. High corporate taxes will only drive companies away to our competitors. One must not forget that our taxes are already higher than those in Hong Kong.

Increase the pool of tax payers by GST and lower the threshold for income tax. Cut government expenses by reducing the MINDEF budget.

Melbournite SG

Increase the pool of tax payers by GST and lower the threshold for income tax. Cut government expenses by reducing the MINDEF budget.

agree on this. he years of reservist can be cut down or scrapped. It will save lots of money for them

maurizio13 SG

I believe our revenue can only b earned from foreigners and at the same time giving them the same priviledges once they take up citizenship.

This is the only way S'pore can survive iin the next 50 years. IMO.

Actually Singapore doesn't need the rich to invest in it. Singapore at present has lots of reserves, so much reserves that the government has no viable investment options in Singapore, in desperation they ended up ploughing into overseas investments, as a result overpaying for most of it. What Singapore lacks is citizens with expertise to form viable businesses for the export market. Probably a result of the political system, as dictatorship stifles creativity needed for inventions and research. Therefore under the current political system, Singapore will never achieve a level of economic growth like the Swiss.

Only some of the superscale salaries to ministers should be reduced, some of the low grades civil servants are already paid pittance.

oxford mushroom SG

So typical of fools like maurizio and Bush...they're great at turning decades of reserves into deficits in just a few years.

maurizio13 SG

So typical of fools like maurizio and Bush...they're great at turning decades of reserves into deficits in just a few years.

Overpaying for overseas acquisition is a good way of maintaining surplus?

Or was it over charging for necessities in the local market a way or increasing the reserves?

Reducing the Ministerial's salary increases deficits?

maurizio13 SG

we should make the poor pay more taxes.

increase GST to 15% next year!!! so we can help the poor.

then we cut the top tier personal income tax rate, making the rich pay less taxes.

Quincey SG

A two-tier structure to the GST?

I believe some countries practice that - where there is a lower tier tax rate for necessities such as food stuff, utilities, etc. With that, the full GST rate for luxury items and non-essentials.

The criticism upon such a structure is that it is illiberal as you are basically sanctioning which goods are deemed to be necessities and which aren't, and who could buy what. But the virtues of which is that it makes everyday necessities more affordable to those less fortunate amongst us.

I'm not an economist, so maybe someone can enlighten me as to how would such a structure affect inflation and growth.

maurizio13 SG

A two-tier structure to the GST?

I believe some countries practice that - where there is a lower tier tax rate for necessities such as food stuff, utilities, etc. With that, the full GST rate for luxury items and non-essentials.

I'm not an economist, so maybe someone can enlighten me as to how would such a structure affect inflation and growth.

The government considers it too troublesome (not profitable), therefore better to tax everything and let god sort them out.

In Australia & UK where they have GST (VAT), they have exemptions for necessities like basic foodstuff, medication and textbooks.

If they earn less, they will cook up lots of excuses about how cumbersome it is to implement. I don't see the problem with implementation because alot of countries are doing it, it's just that they will rake in less revenue.

mistyblue SG

I have seen very well paid employees of a certain company - since they are so well paid, they are concern about making their money grow from Millions to Billions. So they have no time to look at work or other issues cause they are busy investing their own money on company time and resources. The work and responsibilities are "delegated" out to brown nosing subordinates who want a leg up and will do anything to help their boss.

So when a employee is paid so much that is not within market range, and if the employee is high in power and there is no possible counter checks, there is a high chance the above is happening. If this is happening in pirvate sector, don't you think the same human nature exists in public sector.

crimsontactics SG

I believe our revenue can only b earned from foreigners and at the same time giving them the same priviledges once they take up citizenship.

This is the only way S'pore can survive iin the next 50 years. IMO.

So i agree that taxing the rich is not the way.

Quite true. Why don't they increase your tax instead rather than the "innocent" rich.

the civil service salaries could be reduced.

Yeah and risk corruption and a reduction in work effectiveness and productivity? Do you know that most people working in the public sector earns lesser than those from the private sectors?

Taxing foreigners on their salaries to feed the local population

Does that includes you, Aussie lover?

Maintain a fixed taxation on middle income workforce

So lets say that the range of income which is considered as middle range from SG$2000 - SG$7000

Those earning 7k would pay the same tax as those earning 2k?

I believe our revenue can only b earned from foreigners and at the same time giving them the same priviledges once they take up citizenship.

And if one day all the foreigner would to go off to another country which have better benefits, who or what will we rely on then? Self-reliance man. The fact that they migrate shows that they are not loyal to their home country, and may not be loyal to ours as well.

This is the only way S'pore can survive iin the next 50 years.

i think SG will fall in 5 years if this is the only way.