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Developing a vibrant and innovative economy
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Building a smart, green and liveable city
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Fostering a caring and cohesive society
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Preserving a fiscally sustainable and secure future
- Help for companies
- Boosting research
- Carbon tax
- Increased GST
- GST to be imposed on digital imported services
- One-off SG Bonus for all Singaporeans
Looking ahead to Budget 2018: What it could mean for you
Apart from continued emphasis on skills upgrading for the local workforce, experts expect Budget 2018 to pave the way for tax increases, such as a hike in the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
By Tang See Kit @SeeKitCNA
13 Feb 2018 06:31AM (Updated: 13 Feb 2018 06:44AM)
SINGAPORE: With economic transformation likely to remain in focus for Budget 2018, support for the Singaporean worker to undertake the journey will be high up on the Government’s to-do list.
Market watchers are also expecting the Budget, which will be delivered by Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat on Feb 19, to provide some clarity on tax increases as the Government strikes a balance between the country’s growing spending needs and maintaining fiscal sustainability.
SKILLS UPGRADING
Amid a fast-changing labour market upended by rapid technological disruption, as well as an ageing and shrinking workforce, the Government has long been nudging Singaporeans to embark on a lifelong learning journey to be better prepared for future jobs.
A plethora of policies have been rolled out over the years, including SkillsFuture, training schemes such as the Professional Conversion Programmes under Workforce Singapore, and more recently, the set-up of the Global Innovation Alliance for Singaporeans to gain overseas experience.
Given how disruption and change remain key issues for the economy despite strengthening growth in 2017, the upcoming Budget will likely contain more support for the local workforce to acquire deeper skills that are in demand.
“Structural unemployment is an issue that the Government is concerned about,” said Nomura economist Brian Tan. Structural unemployment is caused by a mismatch in the skills of a worker and those required by an employer.
“You will find a lot of support for the ongoing re-skilling and up-skilling efforts aimed at helping people move from one industry to another, especially the PMETs (professionals, managers, executives and technicians) who have lost their jobs,” Mr Tan added.
Singaporeans who gave their views in the Pre-Budget 2018 Feedback Exercise organised by REACH and the Ministry of Finance also wanted more support for this.
“Many Singaporeans opined that there should be greater employer support for skill upgrading and highlighted the need to help the employers to recognise the value of training their employees,” the media release said.
Some also suggested the lowering of the minimum age for SkillsFuture Credit to allow “fresh graduates to bridge the skills gap before entering the workforce”.
TAX HIKES?
Another area that Singaporeans are looking out for will be the possibility of higher taxes, which has dominated the chatter leading up to Budget 2018 since Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said last November that raising taxes will be inevitable amid rising spending on infrastructure and social needs.
Read more at
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news...or-you-9950952
Looks like they are going to increase GST to 9 %
Train delays along NSL and EWL on Tuesday morning
Published on 2018-02-13 by Martha Soezean
Train disruptions occurred during peak hours on Tuesday (13 Feb) morning, starting on the North South Line (NSL) and continued to the East West Line (EWL). No official announcement posted by the Singapore Mass Rapid Transport (SMRT) on its social media platforms.
At 7:58am Kok Siang informed that a signal fault was announced over the train’s public announcement system along the NSL:
Some commuters also posted information and wondered about the delay on TATA SMRT Facebook:
Wayne Chew 1 hr
Due to a signal fault on the NSL, Add 10 mins travelling time.
Due to track works at Raffles Place, please add additional 10 mins
Sherry Tan 1 hr
An announcement made at Tanjong Pagar that there will be a delay on NS line due to signalling fault. Time 7.55am
John Robert Lee shared MRT Singapore Service Information’s post 1 hr
Wonder what’s wrong day after day. Yesterday it was ongoing works, now comes to a signal fault which is going to cause chaos on the whole NSL.
Expect delays and consider other travel alternatives as NSL service is slow due to signal fault.
Around 8:30am tweets from commuters informed that the delays also happened on the EWL:
Haley complained on the lack of report by SMRT:
It is under requirement by the Land Transport Authority that train operators must tell commuters of any delays exceeding 10 minutes through train and station announcements as well as via mainstream and social media.
continue reading here :
https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/201...esday-morning/
Despite hiring a new communications officer SMRT’s communication is still as bad . Despite shorter operating hours they is still breakdown in services .So how can we trust SMRT ; LTA ; Mr Khaw and PAP ?
PM Lee calls SGs to cherish family kinship while he has yet to resolve feud with siblings
Published on 2018-02-15 by The Online Citizen
by Vincent Low
In his Chinese New Year message today (15 Feb), Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong talks about the need to create a brighter future for our children, and to help Singaporeans lead active and meaningful lives in their silver years.
“I hope you will reflect on these issues in quieter moments over the festive season, in between celebrating with friends and family,” he said.
“The Government too will not stop thinking about what it needs to do, to ready our society for these challenges.”
He went on to persuade Singaporeans to build a shared future together, so that new generations can look forward to more prosperous and joyous Chinese New Years.
“Let us also cherish the blessings of kinship, thank our elders for what they have done for us, shower our children with love, and create more shared happy memories with our families. Happy Chinese New Year!”, he concluded his message.
Cherishing kinship and sharing happy memories with families during CNY
Talking about cherishing kinship and sharing happy memories with families, it’s not known if PM Lee has done so with his brother, Lee Hsien Yang, and sister, Lee Wei Ling, after their internal quarrels surfaced publicly last year.
In June 2017, PM Lee became embroiled in a dispute with his siblings publicly over the fate of their father’s house at 38 Oxley Road. The public quarrel made news worldwide.
continue reading here :
Everything you need to know about Budget Statement 2018
You don’t need to read anything else.
By Sulaiman Daud | 11 hours
It’s that time of the year again.
Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat delivered the 2018 Budget statement at 3.30pm in Parliament today (Feb 19).
The aim of this year’s budget, themed “Together, A Better Future” is to prepare Singapore for three broad global shifts:
•First, the shift in global economic weight towards Asia;
•Second, the emergence of new technologies;
•Third, our ageing population.
Budget 2018 will address these shifts through the use of four strategies:
Let’s show you what’s new.
Vibrant and innovative Economy
There are lots of announcements in this budget that companies will like.
•The Wage Credit Scheme (WCS) will be extended for three more years.
It co-funds wage increases for Singaporean employees, up to a gross monthly wage of $4,000.
•The Corporate Income Tax (CIT) rebate will be enhanced and extended.
•Levy rates for foreign workers will remain unchanged across all sectors.
The earlier-announced increases for foreign workers in the Marine Shipyard and Process sectors will be deferred for another year.
Pic from MOF’s Facebook page.
The government will also invest in innovation by expanding the National Robotics Programme, putting $100 million into a joint National Research Foundation-Temasek investment venture, and raising tax deductions on:
•IP registration fees, from 100 to 200 per cent.
•Qualifying expenses incurred on R&D done in Singapore, from 150 to 200 per cent.
Smart, green, liveable city
Heng previously mentioned his preparations for implementing a carbon tax in his 2017 Budget Statement.
A carbon tax is levied on the carbon content of fuels to encourage companies and individuals to reduce carbon emissions in their daily activities.
This is in line with the country’s ratification of the Paris Climate Agreement in 2016.
continue reading here :
https://mothership.sg/2018/02/everyt...t-budget-2018/
Still want to vote for PAP ? With budget surplus still want to increase taxes ?
SDP: A Budget of Wayang and Cheap Gimmicks
Published on 2018-02-20 by The Online Citizen
Singapore Democratic Party (SDP)’s statement on Tuesday in response to the announced Budget 2018
If ever there was a budget laden with cheap gimmicks and full of wayang, this one is it.
Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat announced an ‘ang pow’ of up to $300 for every individual. The giveaway amounts to $700 million. This is against a collection of a surplus of $9.6 billion the previous year.
In other words, the government is giving back to taxpayers 7 cents for every excess dollar it collected in taxes and fees. For the government, this is a wonderful scheme.
The government had forecast that it would collect only a surplus of $1.9 billion but ended up collecting $9.6 billion instead – more than five times the originally estimated amount.
Such an absurdly discrepant amount reflects poorly on the Minister’s judgment, planning and execution of the country’s fiscal system. The hantam buta strategy of tax collection has resulted in the PAP wildly over-collecting from citizens.
To prevent an outcry of why it collected so much more revenue than it needed, the government tries to placate and distract Singaporeans by announcing the ang pow gimmick.
GST increase in 2021
The PAP is also hoping that the giveaway will distract the public from its announcement to hike the GST in 2021. It insults the intelligence of Singaporeans who can see that the return of a couple of hundred dollars in the form of an ang pow is a one-time deal compared to the permanent increase of the GST from 7% to 9%.
continue reading here :
GST Hike: Why Singaporeans can still have a say
February 21, 2018
By Augustine Low
The delay in the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is one that is well thought out and calibrated by the government. But Singaporeans do not have to take it lying down – there is recourse to call the shots.
By announcing that GST will go up to 9% sometime between 2021 and 2025, the PAP leaves itself some wiggle room. Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat also said that it would probably happen sooner rather than later during the timeframe, so we should take him at his word for it.
What are the implications?
For Singaporeans, it means that the GST hike will only take place after the next general election, which will most likely be held in 2019 or 2020.
Now, supposing the Opposition were to make the impending GST hike a key election issue, and the election results do not go the way of the PAP, would it still go ahead and implement the GST hike in 2021?
It would be politically treacherous. Chances are the GST hike would be deferred to later or even postponed indefinitely.
But if the reverse were to happen, and the PAP romps home handsomely in the next GE, just like in GE 2015, then there would be 100% certainty that the GST hike will take place right on the money in 2021. It would be seen as mandate sought and mandate given.
The PAP must have deliberated and worked out all the implications before it came up with the delayed GST plan. For sure, there would be plenty of sweeteners between now and the next GE to win over hearts and minds.
We have often heard of delayed gratification but delayed pain is seldom heard of. In this case, the PAP is promising delayed pain, and it is pain that Singaporeans can still avoid, if they play it right.
continue reading here :
http://www.theindependent.sg/gst-hik...ll-have-a-say/
Will this cause the PAP to lose more votes ? I wonder ?
Budget 2018 cheated Singaporeans: What surplus?
February 20, 2018
Budget 2018 is best described as a scam. This is not a sensationalising headline or a click bait, it is a fact, to people with at least half a brain functioning that is.
There is a S$9.6 billion surplus in the year, and a 2% GST generates only S$3.6 billion a year according to the government’s very own propaganda mouthpiece Today. Chances are if revenue-expenditures trend remain consistent for 2020, Singapore would expect to see a record S$13 billion surplus – good enough a money to buy more F35s or build a nuclear power plant.
There is a S$9.6 billion surplus, and you need to borrow money. How does this even make sense?
There is a S$9.6 billion surplus, and S$700 million, or 7.2%, were distributed out as cash to Singaporeans. I’m trying not to sound like a broken record but this is exactly what most Singaporeans meant when they say the government gives you a wing in return for a whole chicken.
There is a S$9.6 billion surplus, and S$5 billion goes into MRT infrastructures. Let me remind everyone that this is resulted from a legal corruption: the buying over depreciating assets at inflated pricing from SBS Transit and SMRT. The official name is called “Bus Service Enhancement Programme” where S$1.1 billion was given out to the two Temasek Holdings-owned companies, and a S$1 billion bailout to SMRT under the scheme called “New Rail Financing Framework”. The depreciating assets are more toxic than it appears, they cost billions in maintenance and replacement fees, which could have drove SMRT and SBS Transit into bankruptcies had the government not bought over them. It is hence safe to say that S$5 billion of corruption money were taken out to supplement Temasek Holdings’ disastrous balance sheet.
So after S$5 billion is corrupted away and S$0.7 billion is given away to appease Singaporeans, there is only left with a a S$3.9 billion surplus. Now you will start asking “okay so how much is going to healthcare and the ageing population”? Fat hope. S$2.27 billion is going out as corporate tax cuts, which doubled from 20% to 40%, and salaries subsidies for employers. It is exactly because of such government mollycoddling why Singapore companies have a clutch mentality, always asking for foreign workers and tax cuts.
Ageing population and “help the poor” is just such a lovely and convenient excuse to cheat Singaporeans into obediently handing over their money. The slew of new tax increases from online purchase tax, GST increase and Carbon tax, is a targeted campaign to overtax the population so as to present a higher surplus every financial year. The surpluses have a placebo effect on Singaporeans, even the educated ones, who believe Singapore is in “good hands” because we have so much surpluses. No you fuckwit. Calculations have shown that you are getting S$1,800 poorer after these tax increases, if numbers and figures do not appeal to you, your wallet will do the talking. Their “good hands” are in your pockets, praise the Lee.
My interpretation on the Budget financials, is that there is no surplus. Singapore is running into losses, and the above i.e. borrowing money and raising taxes, would all make sense. The S$5 billion to be spent on MRT is a budget overspending under the Transport Ministry. The S$2.27 billion in tax cuts is also a budget overspending under the Finance Ministry. Giving each Singaporean S$100-$300 is just a ruse to make-pretend all is good, the government is rich. Notice why Terminal 5 still does not have a price tag? The government meant it to be a “floating value” so they could work backwards and account for the losses. If they need S$1 billion more, just put up the price a billion higher – after all, Singapore is corruption-free they say isn’t it?
continue reading here :
Budget 2018: 587,200 lower-income workers worry about GST hike?
Published on 2018-02-21 by Leong Sze Hian
I refer to the article “Singapore Budget 2018: Lower-income groups worry about GST hike” ( Straits Times, Feb 20).
The article writes,
“With the impending goods and services tax (GST) hike, Mr Tony Teng, 43, worries about his young family’s growing expenses.
The ambulance driver supports his one-year-old daughter, pregnant wife and elderly parents on a $1,800 monthly salary.
Lower-income families like Mr Teng’s are among groups who could be hit hardest when the GST goes up from 7 per cent to 9 per cent some time between 2021 and 2025.”
So, how many lower-income resident workers are there like Mr Teng who earns less than $1,800?
According to the Yearbook of Manpower Statistics 2017 – there were 587,200 employed residents with gross monthly income (including employee CPF contribution) less than $2,000.
After deducting the typical 20 per cent employee CPF contribution – does it mean that the take-home disposable income may be less than $1,600?
“Academics and experts noted that the lower-income groups will feel the pinch more from a GST increase.”
continue reading here :
https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/201...bout-gst-hike/
You still want to vote for PAP ?
GST hike is done for ‘important purpose’, says Heng Swee Keat at post-Budget forum
Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat acknowledges the concerns surrounding the rise in the Goods and Services Tax (GST), but hopes that Singaporeans can see the bigger picture.
By Tang See Kit @SeeKitCNA
21 Feb 2018 10:57PM (Updated: 22 Feb 2018 08:48AM)
SINGAPORE: While he recognises the concerns surrounding the planned increase in the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said that Singaporeans need to understand that the tax hike is necessary and being done for a “very important purpose” - to finance the country’s growing expenditure needs.
He was speaking to reporters on Wednesday (Feb 21) after a post-Budget forum held at Mediacorp.
Mr Heng on Monday delivered the Budget for 2018, which he described as a “strategic and integrated financial plan to position Singapore for the future”. With a focus on longer-term challenges, the all-encompassing Budget included measures targeted at the economy, society, environment and maintaining the country’s fiscal sustainability.
The GST hike from 7 to 9 per cent, slated to take hold sometime from 2021 to 2025, was the hot topic among Singaporeans who got a chance to ask the finance minister questions about the Budget on Wednesday.
Most raised concerns about the potential rise in living costs, such as in the area of childcare, and whether there will be adequate wage growth to help Singaporeans cope with that.
When asked how he would alleviate these worries felt by the man on the street, Mr Heng said: “I appreciate their concerns but it is important to understand why we need to do this.”
“I’ve tried to explain as much as possible what are the rising expenditure patterns,” he added, referring to his Budget statement which outlined the need to continue spending on areas like healthcare, homeland security and infrastructure.
“We’ll have to find new sources of revenue so that is what we started with,” he said. “It is important to bear in mind that we are doing this for a very important purpose.”
One of the forum’s participants asked whether Singapore has alternative revenue sources apart from raising taxes. To this, Mr Heng pointed out that the net investment returns contribution (NIRC) is now the biggest contributor to the Government’s coffers – larger than any single tax, including the GST, as well as the corporate and personal income taxes.
Over the past 10 years, that has more than doubled from S$7 billion in FY2009 to an estimated S$15.9 billion in FY2018.
Singapore introduced the NIR framework back in 2008. It started out with the reserves managed by GIC and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) before the inclusion of Temasek Holdings in 2015. Under the NIR framework, the Government can spend up to half of the expected long-term investment returns generated.
“I must say that as the finance minister, I feel very grateful that our forefathers have left this with us," Mr Heng said. “It is very important when we think about how we use that money, (we need) to make sure we look after our children as well.
Read more at
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news...-forum-9978148
Really how to see the bigger picture ? When you are taking away every cent from your common folks their ability to spend on even their basic necessities ? YOU ARE making their lives harder and not better .
Singapore Budget 2018: 9 things that will affect households and Singaporeans
Published Feb 19, 2018, 6:13 pm SGT
UpdatedFeb 20, 2018, 11:33 am
Charmaine Ng
SINGAPORE - Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat presented the Budget before Parliament on Monday (Feb 19), laying out the Government’s revenue and expenditure for the 2018 financial year.
The crop of announcements included raised GST, enhancements to the Proximity Housing Grant, and a one-off “hongbao” from the previous year’s bumper Budget surplus.
Here are nine things from this year’s Budget announcements that will affect ordinary Singaporeans.
The goods and services tax will be increased for the first time in more than a decade, by 2 percentage points.
Last year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said raising taxes was “not a matter of whether, but a matter of when”, sparking speculation among economists and tax specialists about the type of increase and when it would kick in.
The increased GST will be implemented sometime from 2021 to 2025. Mr Heng said he expected that the Government would “need to do so earlier rather than later”.
The timing of the raised GST will depend on the state of the economy, how much expenditures grow, and how buoyant existing taxes are, said Mr Heng.
To help lower-income households cope, the permanent GST voucher scheme will be topped up by $2 billion. Currently, $800 million is given out a year.
GST on publicly subsidised education and healthcare will continue to be absorbed.
Are you a keen user of streaming services such as Netflix and Spotify?
From Jan 1, 2020, such services from overseas suppliers will be taxed, even if they do not have a physical presence in Singapore.
Other examples of imported services include apps, listing fees on electronic marketplaces, software, and online subscription fees.
The GST will also cover imported services for businesses here, such as marketing, accounting, IT and management services.
However, the move will not affect e-commerce for goods, despite speculations by observers earlier.
If you are 21 years old and above, you will receive a one-off “hongbao” of up to $300 this year.
continue reading here :