Educate consumers to be prudent in their spending

Published: Wednesday November 6, 2013 MYT 12:00:00 AM 

Updated: Wednesday November 6, 2013 MYT 8:03:46 AM

THE proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) is 17 months away.

Campaigns must be initiated to educate consumers to be more prudent in their spending as the more they spend, the more tax they will pay.

If they spend unnecessarily, they also pay tax unnecessarily.

For example, when there is an item on special offer, there is really no necessity to buy it if one already has the item in the house.

There are four tubes of toothpaste in my house which only has three people.

I also have two 1kg packages of a popular brand of chocolate drink.

Believe me, there are many more unnecessary items in the house.

My wife bought them because they were on offer.

She said she is going to change this attitude with the implementation of GST.

Many Malaysians are impulsive buyers. The smart consumer will go shopping with a list and only buy what is needed.

Another bad Malaysian attitude is trying to keep up with the Joneses. With GST, the more expensive cars or items you buy, the more tax you are going to pay.

I have a friend who has two expensive cars, one for himself and one for his wife. The sad thing is, he is only renting a house.

He should consider just one expensive car for himself and an average-priced model for his wife.

I look forward to seeing campaigns that educate consumers to be prudent in their spending prior to the implementation of GST.

THOMAS FOO

Subang Jaya