Penggantungan keputusan besar hanya bersifat sementara

TUAN IBRAHIM TUAN MAN
20 Disember 2012

RAKYAT diingatkan penggantungan beberapa keputusan besar kerajaan hanyalah bersifat sementara menjelang PRU13 sahaja. Terkini keputusan menggantung semua saman Sistem Penguatkuasaan (AES) dibuat kerana bantahan orang ramai dan usaha gigih Kempen Anti Saman Ekor (Kase) yang diterajui Pas terhadap peraturan yang menindas rakyat.

Walaupun Menteri Pengangkutan serta anggota Kabinet telah berulang kali menyatakan AES tetap akan dilaksanakan, namun terkini ia ditangguhkan oleh Jabatan Peguam Negara.

Yang aneh Menteri putus untuk laksana, manakala Peguam Negara boleh batal arahan Menteri. Inilah caca-merba yang sedang melanda Malaysia.

Tidak tahu siapa buat polisi dan siapa pelaksana polisi. Kalau begini keadaan lebih baik salah seorang letak jawatan. Kalau kira patut Peguam Negara kerana melanggar arahan menteri, tetapi kalau difikir semula arahan peguam negara dijadikan keputusan, bukan arahan menteri, maka eloklah menteri berkenaan letak jawatan.

Oleh kerana PRU13 dianggap sebagai PRU yang paling penting dalam sejarah negara di mana banyak projek mega untuk kroni terpaksa ditangguh dahulu kerana BN khuatir ia akan menjadi peluru bagi PR.

Di saat PR membawa isu utama bagi kepentingan rakyat, BN masih terkial-kial menggunakan isu lapuk seperti serangan kepada Presiden Pas, serangan peribadi pimpinan PR dan ugutan dalam mencari sokongan.

Apa pun rakyat perlu sendiri ingat, bahawa semua penangguhan ini samada AES, GST, tarif elektrik, cukai telefon prabayar dan lain-lain hanyalah bersifat sementara.

Kesemua ‘hadiah penangguhan’ ini hanya menanti keputusan pilihan raya umum sahaja sebelum ditarik balik.

Kalau keputusan menyebelahi BN, maka semua yang ditangguhkan ini akan dikuat kuasa semua, dan rakyat akan terus terbeban dengan pelbagai peraturan yang menyusah dan tidak masuk akal.

Di waktu yang sama, kroni terus mendapat habuan dari kalangan pemimpin BN, yang sedang kelaparan di keliling mereka.

Rakyat mempunyai kuasa memilih, sama ada ingin peraturan yang membebankan mereka diterus atau dibatalkan sahaja. Mengekalkan BN bermakna penangguhan sementara akan dikuat kuasa semula, atau menumbangkan BN, maka peraturan itu akan terus dibatalkan.

Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, Ketua Penerangan Pas Pusat

Urus niaga sektor selamat diunjur berubah

Publication: BH

Date of publication: Dec 19, 2012

Section heading: Bisnes

Page number: 008

Kuala Lumpur: JPMorgan Securities (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd menjangka Malaysia mengalami perubahan urus niaga daripada sektor selamat seperti telekomunikasi kepada sektor pertumbuhan janaan domestik yang kurang berprestasi termasuk pembinaan, minyak dan gas, harta, perjudian dan media.

Dana tertumpu sektor selamat

Pengarah Eksekutif Penyelidikan Ekuiti, Mak Hoy Kit, berkata ketika ini banyak dana tertumpu kepada sektor selamat disebabkan tanggapan risiko pilihan raya.

"Bagaimanapun dan pada pandangan saya, sebahagian besar prestasi pasaran tahun ini dipengaruhi dagangan selamat," katanya mengulas Prospek Pasaran Ekuiti Malaysia 2013.

Beliau berkata, kumpulan berkenaan tidak cenderung memilih sektor berorientasikan luar negara seperti perkapalan dan perladangan serta tembakau kerana sektor itu kurang berkembang dan membabitkan risiko kawal selia.

Malaysia berdaya tahan

"Isu luaran, contohnya, 'tebing fiskal' Amerika Syarikat, pastinya akan menjadi risiko kepada mana-mana negara, tetapi dalam konteks serantau, Malaysia amat berdaya tahan.

"Ini disebabkan tahap penggunaan domestik negara yang baik, yang menyumbang lebih 50 peratus Keluaran Dalam Negara Kasar (KDNK), serta pelaburan awam dan swasta, yang menyumbang 25 peratus," katanya.

Bagaimanapun, ketidakseimbangan seperti pendapatan cukai yang kecil dan hutang peribadi sektor isi rumah yang tinggi perlu diberikan perhatian, katanya.

"Tahun depan, selepas pilihan raya, kita mungkin menyaksikan pengenalan Cukai Barangan dan Perkhidmatan (GST) dan ini menawarkan kadar cukai yang lebih berdaya saing pada masa akan datang.

"Hutang yang mewakili 77 peratus KDNK tentunya adalah sesuatu yang membimbangkan, tetapi bank pusat amat berhemah dalam mengeluarkan garis panduan mengenai pinjaman berhemah," katanya.

Tahap pembelian harta juga sudah mula menunjukkan kelembapan tahun ini, tambahnya.

Mengenai harga komoditi, beliau berkata, kumpulan itu menjangkakan harga minyak sawit mentah (MSM) berada pada paras sekurang-kurangnya sembilan peratus lebih rendah tahun depan kerana peningkatan bekalan, manakala harga arang batu dijangka susut 4.2 peratus kepada AS$90 setan.

Kos margin MSM tinggi

"Bagaimanapun, bagi Malaysia, margin MSM antara kos pengeluaran dan harga jualan masih agak tinggi, jadi, saya tidak fikir akan ada kemerosotan permintaan domestik, cuma kadar pertumbuhan mungkin lebih rendah sedikit.

"Mengenai ringgit, kami ramalkan prospek bagi tahun depan lebih cerah, pada paras RM2.95 berbanding dolar AS," katanya.

GST in perspective

by David Lee. Posted on December 18, 2012, Tuesday

THE GST (Goods and Services Tax) Bill was first introduced in parliament for its first reading in December 2009.

The intention then was to implement the new tax scheme as soon as the GST system was in place and the proposed rate was 4 per cent.

Its implementation has since been delayed as the government studies its impact on society. Suffice to say, it will be introduced at some stage and it is thus important to have a good understanding of the GST.

GST is a form of indirect taxation. It can be defined as a domestic input credit consumption tax, meaning the GST will be levied on taxable supplies and, ultimately, consumers will bear the effects of the tax.

In order to minimise the GST’s impact on society, there will be exemptions and zero rating for certain types of transactions.

Malaysia has been recording fiscal deficits (government total expenditures exceeding the revenue it generates, excluding money from borrowings) for more than a decade.

For the year 2011, the budget deficit was 5.4 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). The government intends to reduce the deficit and the target is to bring it down to 4 per cent of GDP by 2015.

In light of this, there is a need to introduce measures that can strengthen and stabilise the revenue base for the future, hence the proposal to implement the GST. Other reasons for implementing this new tax regime include the following:

Malaysia has a narrow revenue base, being dependent mostly on direct taxes. The contribution from oil and gas to the government’s revenue has been growing over the years and presently accounts for about 40 per cent of the total.

This is considered risky as oil and gas are not reliable sources of revenue over the medium to longer term because they are depleting natural resources and prices for such commodities tend to be volatile.

The government’s financial position can be addressed through the implementation of an indirect tax such as the GST. Many countries, including Singapore, have successfully adopted GST as a part of their fiscal strategy.

Studies by tax experts show the government can expect to collect an additional RM1 billion in revenue annually after the first year of implementation.

Not all businesses will be affected by the implementation of GST. Small businesses can expect to be exempted in order to save them the cost and effort of keeping records required if they are registered for GST. Such businesses need not add GST to the amounts at which they sell their products or supply their services, nor will they get refunds of the GST they pay on goods and services bought.

The amounts they enter in their accounting records relating to expenditure would be the total amount paid to suppliers, including any GST. For example, if they purchase goods for RM130 that includes RM5 for GST, they would enter RM130 in their purchases accounts and make no separate entries for the RM5 GST.

They will not charge GST on their sales and there will therefore be no impact on their customers.

Zero-rated businesses are businesses that will not add GST onto the selling prices of their products as their rates of GST would be zero.

Such businesses can however obtain refunds of all GST paid on the purchase of goods or services from the relevant authorities. Examples of zero-rated businesses include those selling children’s clothing and shoes.

Partly-exempt businesses include businesses that sell a variety of goods which are exempted, zero-rated and standard-rated.

These traders will have to apportion their turnover accordingly and follow the rules already described for each part of their turnover.

Meanwhile, taxable businesses will add GST to their sales invoices and they will be able to get a refund of the GST they pay on their purchases. Therefore, they will need to know how to charge and prepare appropriate GST sales invoices on a taxable supply. The following is an example for a typical taxable supply:

Senadin Wholesaler sells 10 rolls of black tape at RM6 per roll and 70 marker pens at RM2 each.

The goods are subjected to GST at the rate of 4 per cent. The customer is given a trade discount of 25 per cent by Senadin Wholesale (see Table 1).

Businesses which can get refunds of GST paid will not include GST as part of the cost recorded in their ledger accounts of expenses or fixed assets.

On the other hand, businesses which cannot get refunds of GST paid will include the GST.

At the end of each GST tax period, a GST return has to be filled in and sent to the Royal Malaysian Customs. A typical GST return is shown in Table 2.

GST owed by or to the businesses will be shown as separate items under Current Liabilities or Current Assets in their balance sheets.

David Lee is an associate lecturer in the Foundation Studies Department of the School of Business at Curtin Sarawak.

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/12/18/gst-in-perspective/#ixzz2WjSIv86x