3/12/2012

Saying all the right things

Saying all the right things is not the same as doing the right things. Some are good at saying the right things and doing the wrong things. To be credible and believeable, there is a saying, walk the talk.

I like what Shanmugam said and printed on the cover of Today paper this morning. ‘…the govt does not want younger Singaporeans to be saddled with tax burdens, even as it ensures that the elderly are taken care of and no one is left behind.’ He added, ‘We keep our tax rates competitive, 20 per cent at the top….’

This is the best part, ‘We rather people keep their money and spend it as they like, buy insurance for their health…’ Please tell the CPF that the people want to spend their savings as they like, can? And this is even better, ‘…only about 50 per cent of Singaporeans pay taxes.’ In my earlier posts I mentioned that at 85 years old, a Singaporeans would still be paying taxes through the GST, and so is an unborn baby. Of course he is talking about income tax. GST is not income tax. Don’t confuse the two.

Singaporeans are so lowly taxed that they have hundreds of thousands left in their CPF accounts under two minimum sum schemes which are their savings, and understandably they can keep their money and spend it as they like. And young Singaporeans are not burdened by taxes because of the old and ageing population. And the govt is looking after the oldies. Really? How many oldies are being looked after by the govt and how much does it cost the govt? To my simple mind, the oldies will be looking after themselves through their CPF savings which they cannot spend as they like.

As for the young, do they still have money left to pay taxes given the huge sum of money they have to pay for a roof over their heads and the huge minimum sums that are not taxed but kept in their CPF for them to spend as they liked?

It is always good to listen to the good side of the story. Hear only the good stuff.

9 comments:

newhik said...

I always thought that the CPF was an oppresive scheme to lock up our savings.
The only reason why our Gahment can claim low taxes is because they have our CPF to play with. That is where they get the fundings to invest. They don't really care about the income tax as that would be a pittance as compared to the giant golden goose that is the CPF. Furthermore, the value inside of our CPF has always been a written statement.
There have been very little accounting to what the CPF Board actually has.
Although I'm a noob at financial matters, but i always had the feel that our CPF is just a giant sinkpool in which our so called monies just get gobbled up.

Anonymous said...

Free gambling chips!

La Lee Hoh said...

Singaporeans, not unlike the taiwanese and koreans, need to learn how to take matters into their own hands and vote in a party which is not centred on the needs of elite.

Siphoning off from the defense budget to pay for the universal health care for the elderly is doable. But this will not happen because the corporate interests of the military industrial complex outweigh the needs of the poor and the vulnerable, according to our elite.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

It is not the govt's job to look after oldies.

CPF is a tax, but you can get some of that back -- i.e. like a tax credit (but it is still not "your" money).

But overall the tax burden is still quite low.

The present SG,Gov is not bad -- they seem to be doing many of the right things -- like freeing up the labour market, free movement of capital, open borders and allowing foreign ownership, foreign investment and foreign enterprise.

The problems I have with the current government all deal with liberty and freedom, especially regarding freedom of speech, equitable treatment of LBGT, death penalty, and conscription. Like I said, all freedom and liberty issues.

Economics and finance scorecard.: not bad at all.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Hi La Lee Hoh, welcome to the blog.

I have actually written a piece on how our parent's generation took matters into their own hands in the 1950s to give us what we have today. Probably post it tomorrow : )

Anonymous said...

Why dont he asked, who is paying and supporting his salary and the other Minister salary.

Are we suposed to support them also.

Anonymous said...

If the govt. is really looking after the old, then why do they need to make it compulsory for the children to look after our aging parents.

If really true, then the govt. should say;
"Vote PAP. Your children don't look after you never mind. We will look after you. With PAP, you will never have to worry about old age alone."

I don't know what to say.
Other than "Bullshit."

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

You will find that many young people do not want their taxes to go and support the huge brigade of aging baby boomers.

Good on them. I urge all young people to resist any attempt by the government to burden you with taxes.

And please forget about CPF -- it is a sunken cost.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Like it or not, their taxes are up, and very high. Like you said, CPF is a tax, so is high property price, high COE, ERPs etc etc.

Another no where to run scenario.