7/06/2014

GST Vouchers – Real spending money or smoke screen?



A blogger by the nick of Meng wrote the above article posted in TRE. I quote his first two paragraphs,

‘Something I do not understand on GST Voucher payout to credit off the Utilities Account.
I have a family of 5 staying with me. Looking at the MOF Letter, every family member is given a $180 to offset their household utility bills. So a total of $900. However, I can only deduct $180 for my SP Services. So where did the balance $720 go? Lost into thin air?...’

Assuming that there are 1m households of 5 and each household receiving a total of $900 of GST Voucher for utility bills, technically the govt could declare that it pays out $900m in GST rebates to the people. If every household has the same 5 heads as mentioned by Meng and only one can claim $180, then the actual amount paid out and redeemed by the 1m households is $180m. There is a difference of $720m not claimable. If we have two million households, the amount would be $1.44b while the govt could claim giving away $1.8b.

How much does the Finance Ministry budgeted for and how much it claimed to have spent on the people? Or would it later make a revision to say only 20 per cent was spent?  If so, it would be proper procedure to refund the 80 per cent back to the MOF’s account. Unless of course the payout is actual and not $900m or $1.8b as projected, there is thus no need to account for the difference of $720m/$1.44b.

It is still a very good PR exercise for the govt to claim to have given back $900m/$1.44b to the people. And 4 out of 5 in such a household would have a brief moment of happiness, thinking that the govt is giving them $180 each, only to realise that it was all a mirage. The issue could be just PR, gives out $180m but on paper reflecting $900m. As a paper exercise, there is nothing to it, as no money is lost or not accounted for.

Kopi Level - Yellow

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

"However, I can only deduct $180 for my SP Services. So where did the balance $720 go?"
Posted by RB

For smart Sinkies, actually none of their business really, where the balance $720 go to.

Because under PAP, smart Sinkies are already able to make lots of money for themselves in their bank account, so they don't need the $180 GST voucher, or even their CPF money.

Smart Sinkies know that PAP enable smart people to catch their own fish, and lots of it, and not depend on PAP to give them fish.

And I think PAP knows, from their IRAS records, that smart Sinkies are a majority. If not, they will just make more smart foreigners into Sinkies to become majority. It's that simple.

So daft and poor Sinkies are doomed, and forever. Because PAP will never be voted out because even the strongest Sinkie Opposition is not ready to be govt.

And smart Sinkies, being majority, will never allow a not ready opposition to become govt.

Anonymous said...

How about:
CPF Money - Real spending money or smoke screen?

Anonymous said...

After daft view......

This are money that are credited to bank accounts or thru cheques.. for u to spend

How u choose to use it, papigs cunt be bothered, 4 d, sex... food

BUT THE PAYBACK TO PAPIGS WILL BE MULTIPLE TIMES...

Just look at the utilities bill, the layers of indirect taxes, worst.... tax on tax paid

Jolly good.... vote papigs for more good years...

Anonymous said...

Nothing wrong with collecting, keeping or spending more money if 60% approve it.

Daft Sinkie opposition, please learn from PAP how to get the 60% approval.

If not, please close shop and concentrate on making money.

Anonymous said...

"Too old to be a rising star.
Too young to be one of a dying breed.
But just the right age to be a cantankerous obstructionist."

Who is a better fit for the above quote?
LKY or LHL?

Anonymous said...

The 60% guy forget that in the 2006 election it was 66%. If he understands trend analysis, he/she wld wake up & spend his time writing to the ruling party to focus on doing more to reverse the trend. Instead, the PM is suing a nobody who has raised a legitimate question abt the CPF, creating an image as a bully. On top of that, he called $5k compensation derisory, even though it is twice the upper middle income limit definition for medishield life. The question on an avg Singaporean mind is - has the ruling party lost touch with the avg Singaporean. If not, do u think they give a damn abt whether the opposition is ready to assume power.

Anonymous said...

Whether the opposition is ready to assume power matters a lot to the PAP. In fact a matter of life and death for the PAP.

But right now, after nearly 50 years of independence, the strongest opposition is the one led by a Sinkie Teochew Ah Hia. And Ah Hia even publicly said his party is not ready to be govt and he also has no ambition to be PM.

So with such opposition, PAP has no cause to worry next GE or after. Even in the worst of times for daft Sinkies in 2011, PAP even got 60%. So things can only get better. For PAP, that is.

-from the happy and satisfied 60% Sinkie trend analyst

Anonymous said...

Imagine the scenario where Teochew Ah Hia, Hainan Ah Kor, Chee Soon Juan and son of JBJ all got elected and their parties win a combined majority of seats in a GE. Meaning PAP kena voted out lah.

And what happen if Teochew Ah Hia, Hainan Ah Kor, Chee Soon Juan and son of JBJ all want to be PM?

Can Sinkieland have 4 PMs?

This is what some of the 60% fear the most, and thsi fear drove them to vote for PAP, despite hating PAP.

Anonymous said...

Failure seems to have become part of PAP's new DNA.
Here are 4 ways to identify the DNA of Failure;

Dörner identifies four habits of mind and characteristics of thought that account for the frequency of our failures:

1. The slowness of our thinking-We streamline the process of problem solving to save time and energy.

2. Our wish to feel confident and competent in our problem solving abilities-We try to repeat past successes.

3. Our inability to absorb quickly and retain large amounts of information-We prefer unmoving mental models, which cannot capture a dynamic, ever-changing process.

4. Our tendency to focus on immediately pressing problems-We ignore the problems our solutions will create.

Anonymous said...

Actually a lot of Sinkies want to vote opposition.

But like Teochew Ah Hia said before, by doing so they are also very scared they might accidentally vote PAP out. And this may inadvertently create a scenario mentioned by Anon 11:39 am.

RB, what do u think? Possible or not?

Anonymous said...

//// ... by doing so they are also very scared they might accidentally vote PAP out. ////

ROFL.
Nowadays hor.
Singaporeans are more scared of accidentally voting PAP into government again.
We cannot afford another 5 more years of PAP's Swiss standard of living anymore.

Anonymous said...

Ya. Another 5 yrs, the CPF minimum sum may go up to $300k. And we may hv many squadrons of F35s, so education, medical & other public svcs fee will hv to go up to pay for the expensive military toys tt our ex generals in cabinet love to splurge on.

b said...

This is a scam. The finance ministry must give full disclosure and account for this accordingly. Some heads must be on the chopping board if they cannot even do simple calculations.

Anonymous said...

Ya, what's wrong with collecting more money?
No gun to your head, every tax is transparently laid before You, what more You want?

Anonymous said...

Vote papigs

For more good years

Every few months... gimme money

Where to find? Own children also not sad o filial

Cum cum ... papigs is the bastard.