Not for love of money, but of Humanity. "Greater is he who works for the good of all, then he who works for the good of himself only" ~ Matthew 25:40: "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'"- (NIV). I live in Singapore where the Emperor must not be disturbed.

Wednesday, October 5, 2022

Increasing GST shows how wicked and incompetent the PAP is.

 Increasing GST shows how wicked and incompetent the PAP is.


The following essay will advise and explain about much better options for government revenue than the regressive and administratively cumbersome GST increase. 


It is formatted into 5 sections:  Background/ Observations,  General Impression, Recommendations, Conclusion and post script; (U can just read the last sections if u don't have the time).


Background/ Observations: 

1) It is known that the wealth divide (more so than just the Gini coefficient) is frighteningly wide in Singapore now and strategies for wealth taxation are needed to reduce the gulf now: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/singapore-studying-wealth-tax-relook-fiscal-strategies-lawrence-wong-2246646


2) GST is a form of regressive taxation, “taking a larger percentage of income from low-income earners than from high-income earners”  https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/regressivetax.asp


3) In the The Singapore Bicentennial Conference, Professor Tommy Koh showed how self-serving and wicked the American Business model which Singapore emulates is, as compared to Singapore employers historically, where profit sharing was the norm traditionally  https://youtu.be/CFgRJA64S6A?t=4896 drawn to its logical conclusion of copying wholesale American business models, Singapore is likely to disintegrate into a state of extreme political polarization and civil war, just as the American society is entering into now (or despotic governance of DPRK central control type).


4) Limited liability companies need to be properly taxed and regulated, to ensure that they work for societal good ('Legal scholars and others, such as Joel Bakan, have observed that a business corporation created as a "legal person" has a psychopathic personality because it is required to elevate its own interests above those of others even when this inflicts major risks and grave harms on the public or on other third-parties'). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporation


5) The income (wage share) of workers in Singapore is one of the lowest in high income countries. This is because most of the income is accrued to capital, i.e. share holders with workers only earning 42.5% of GDP (2001-2007) and ranking last in the list of high income countries shown. “Singapore is the richest, if not, one of the richest countries in the world, by GDP per capita. Yet, it performs so dismally in sharing the wealth that its people had helped it built with the people. ” https://thehearttruths.wordpress.com/2013/09/23/singapore-has-the-lowest-wage-share-among-high-income-countries/


6) The tax contribution of corporates is oddly low when it should be much higher, since in theory, a corporation with zero profits is much more alive than one declaring losses, but an average worker with a pay cut (increased tax burden) is likely to experience a fall in lifestyle or even hunger or postponement of retirement depending on his expendable income.  Whilst the income tax revenue  FY2021/22: ratio of personal($14.2B):corp($18.2B) is roughly  in the same ration as the 2007 wage share of 42.5%  [14.2/(14.2+18.2)]=43.82% , the ratio would be unequal if the figure for wage share in 2022 was less. However, the elephant in the room is the property tax rate and collection amounts. It is absurd for corporate property tax to be only a flat 10% rate when residential property tax is up to 32-36% (FY2024- depending on owner occupation status or not). https://www.industrialguru.sg/financial/property-tax-rates-for-industrial-and-commercial-properties/

Even the difference between corporate and personal income tax rates is less stark, being a flat 17% for corporate tax and up to 22% for the highest personal income tax tier. 


General Impression:

In order for society to remain cohesive and avoid polarization if the multiracial USA population is anything to go by, Singapore is on the road towards more social unrest and polarization as exemplified by the USA electorate and its obsolete and skewed presidential electoral college system, which our GRC system somewhat resembles (first past the post, grouping of districts etc), which is as elitist/racist as it is susceptible to gerrymandering, such that we might well sleep walk into a state of sociology-political turmoil the likes of the USA with talk of civil war within a decade https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/29/us-civil-war-fears-poll 


The total property tax in FY2021/22 was $4.7B, assuming that 50% was from commercial property taxes, this is indeed a pitiful amount and ought to be doubled, since for all intents and purposes, these properties do generate high income (corporate property rentals are often higher then residential property costs etc and corporates are owned by wealthy shareholders who should contribute their fair share of taxes).



Recommendations:

The fact that corporates paid $18.2B in taxes @17% rate indicates that (assuming no tax discounts and no dishonest reporting of profits) means in excess of $107.1B in declared corporate profits in FY2021/22. Commercial property taxes should at least double in future to ensure that all land is optimally used. This should add at least another $2.35B in tax revenue, sufficient to cover for a 1.5% increase in GST tax rate.

An additional freehold property tax of roughly 20%AV for ALL freehold properties (both commercial and residential) should definitely uplift the total new property tax collected by an amount sufficient to eradicate the need to increase GST by 2% altogether (approx S$3B p.a.).



Conclusion:

In conclusion, it is false and untrue that GST is the best and only option that the PAP government has to increase government revenue to cover for increase healthcare costs inflation moving forwards. An increase in commercial property tax as well as a new standardized freehold surcharge levy charged on any property whose remaining lease is in excess of 103 years will provide adequate revenue to eradicate the need to increase GST by 3% altogether.



Post script:

To serve religion and the poor, there shall be a commercial tax waiver option (as is currently available to religious institutions) for such social enterprises and non-profits such as a cap on profits, cap on CEO remuneration which is not more than 3x the median hourly salary of  full time staff or commercial property tax refund for charity programs, which must form a minimum % of all services rendered and accounts made publicly transparent etc etc.










Monday, March 7, 2022

Tax the land- to solve America’s housing crisis

 Tax the land- to solve America’s housing crisis

"America’s housing crisis is about the nation’s perennial failure to build enough homes. As of last year, Freddie Mac estimated that the country needs an additional 3.8 million homes to meet demand" https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22951092/land-tax-housing-crisis

My response:
There can be progressive taxation built in, based on the property annual rental value, on overall land owners, so for leaseholds of 99yrs or less, the leasehold property owners pay 66% of property tax portion with landowners topping up to 100% to pay to government tax collectors.

So it's like first USD5000 in taxable value is zero rated, next USD5000 tier at 1%, next USD5000 at 2% until it hits a max of say 80% when the property value is at the highest, i.e. approx $400,000 annual rental value and above.

So roughly, the residential property tax of a piece of land, upon which equivalent residents upon which could be built up,  costing estimate $50k p.a. to rent will be approx $2500 p.a., worth $100k annual rental attracts a tax of approx $10k property tax, worth $400K annual rental will have to pay $160K in property tax, worth $2M annual value (annually to rent) will pay property tax of $160k + $1.6M*80%=$1.44M in annual property tax.

Other forms of land will be taxed at different rates based on permitted use zone classifications, e.g. commercial, farm, mining, industrial  etc etc with a possible discount if the land is vacant, subject to the shortage in supply of houses society needs, so as to optimise the use of land and prevent hording or freeloading by hoarders of land.


Ref:

Sunday, January 16, 2022

Singapore is indeed a 3rd world country...

 Singapore is indeed a 3rd world country, someone please tell me I'm wrong.


References :

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/red-swastika-bentley-driver-security-guard-morning-traffic-jam-2430781

https://www.treehugger.com/netherlands-kids-take-bicycle-bus-school-4857337

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/slight-increase-in-diabetes-prevalence-despite-5-year-war-against-disease