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February 15th, 2007, 06:18 PM
Ah Boo! U waiting for wat?
see the latest news!
Second Minister for Finance delivers his speech in Parliament. Here are some highlights of this speech.
TAX CHANGES
* GST increase will raise an additional $1.5b each year
* Government expects surplus of $1.1b for FY2007
* More grants for restructured hospitals, polyclinics to fully absorb additional GST
* Level of subsidy for Kindergarten Financial Assistance scheme up from 75% to 90%
* One-off property tax rebate of up to $100, per year, in 2008 and 2009
* First installment of GST Credits will be paid out on 1 July 2007
* Most Singaporeans will get offsets equal to at least 5 years of increase in GST expenses; adult Singaporeans will receive GST Credits in annual installments
* Government to raise GST rate to 7% with effect from 1 July 2007
* Government to move towards taxing liquors on basis of alcoholic content
* Government to reduce Foreign Domestic Worker Levy by $30 from 1 July 2007
* Government to reduce road tax by 8% for passenger cars and motorcycles
* Government to remove current broad-based Cess that applies to F&B outlets
* Partial Tax Exemption threshold increased from $100,000 to $300,000 for companies
* Rebate for labour expenses for SMEs for two years
* Corporate tax reduced by 2 percentage points to 18%, from YA2008; this will cost the government $800 million a year
* For the first time, the state will supplement market wages that low-income workers receive
* Eligible workers can look forward to first Workfare Income Supplement on 1 Jan 2008, 438,000 Singaporeans are expected to benefit
* Workfare will be given partly in cash but mostly in CPF
* Workfare benefits also extended to those above 35 years, who earn $1,500 or less
* Those aged above 45, earning $1000 or less receive highest Workfare benefits
* Reduce CPF contributions for low-wage workers, give Workfare income supplements
* Employer CPF contribution rate up by 1.5 percentage points to 14.5%, from 1 July 2007
* About $20b to be spent on land transport infrastructure over next 10 to 15 years
* A systematic, total "urban regeneration" of housing estates will cost about $1b per year
* The Government will spend about $700m on The Gardens by the Bay, and other parks
* Intelligent Nation 2015 Masterplan estimated to cost $4b
* Remove 80:20 spending rule for income tax exemption for registered charities
* Another $500m for National Research Fund
* Plan to invest 3% of GDP on R&D annually by 2010, up from 2.4% in 2005
* The Government to subsidise 80% of cost of post-diploma courses for Singaporeans
* Annual expenditure on lifelong learning to triple to $500m in medium to long-term
* The government will introduce the Post-Secondary Education Account (PSEA) for every Singaporean aged seven to 20; PSEA can be used at publicly-funded universities, polytechnic
* Need to allow individual workers to apply directly for subsidised training
* Encourage more adults to take up post-diploma courses in polytechnics
* Education and continuous learning remains top priority of the Government; every child will be given access to first-rate education
* The government will raise additional revenues by extracting more income from reserves and increasing GST
* The government will set out key changes to strengthen social security system, reduce direct taxes, raise additional revenues, including GST, to provide Singaporeans with an offset package for GST increase
* Income gap is key item on agenda
* Response to widening income gap must be to focus on growth, embrace globalisation, but manage downsides
* First priority is to grow the economy, but the government must ensure that no one is left behind and all Singaporeans have the opportunity to succeed
* Introducing Workfare to do more to help needy Singaporeans
* Budget deficit of $1.3b expected for FY2006
* Economy expected to grow by a healthy 4.5% to 6.5% this year
* The Singapore economy grew by 7.9% in 2006
* Unemployment rate went down by 2.7%
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/sgbudget07/
see the latest news!
Second Minister for Finance delivers his speech in Parliament. Here are some highlights of this speech.
TAX CHANGES
* GST increase will raise an additional $1.5b each year
* Government expects surplus of $1.1b for FY2007
* More grants for restructured hospitals, polyclinics to fully absorb additional GST
* Level of subsidy for Kindergarten Financial Assistance scheme up from 75% to 90%
* One-off property tax rebate of up to $100, per year, in 2008 and 2009
* First installment of GST Credits will be paid out on 1 July 2007
* Most Singaporeans will get offsets equal to at least 5 years of increase in GST expenses; adult Singaporeans will receive GST Credits in annual installments
* Government to raise GST rate to 7% with effect from 1 July 2007
* Government to move towards taxing liquors on basis of alcoholic content
* Government to reduce Foreign Domestic Worker Levy by $30 from 1 July 2007
* Government to reduce road tax by 8% for passenger cars and motorcycles
* Government to remove current broad-based Cess that applies to F&B outlets
* Partial Tax Exemption threshold increased from $100,000 to $300,000 for companies
* Rebate for labour expenses for SMEs for two years
* Corporate tax reduced by 2 percentage points to 18%, from YA2008; this will cost the government $800 million a year
* For the first time, the state will supplement market wages that low-income workers receive
* Eligible workers can look forward to first Workfare Income Supplement on 1 Jan 2008, 438,000 Singaporeans are expected to benefit
* Workfare will be given partly in cash but mostly in CPF
* Workfare benefits also extended to those above 35 years, who earn $1,500 or less
* Those aged above 45, earning $1000 or less receive highest Workfare benefits
* Reduce CPF contributions for low-wage workers, give Workfare income supplements
* Employer CPF contribution rate up by 1.5 percentage points to 14.5%, from 1 July 2007
* About $20b to be spent on land transport infrastructure over next 10 to 15 years
* A systematic, total "urban regeneration" of housing estates will cost about $1b per year
* The Government will spend about $700m on The Gardens by the Bay, and other parks
* Intelligent Nation 2015 Masterplan estimated to cost $4b
* Remove 80:20 spending rule for income tax exemption for registered charities
* Another $500m for National Research Fund
* Plan to invest 3% of GDP on R&D annually by 2010, up from 2.4% in 2005
* The Government to subsidise 80% of cost of post-diploma courses for Singaporeans
* Annual expenditure on lifelong learning to triple to $500m in medium to long-term
* The government will introduce the Post-Secondary Education Account (PSEA) for every Singaporean aged seven to 20; PSEA can be used at publicly-funded universities, polytechnic
* Need to allow individual workers to apply directly for subsidised training
* Encourage more adults to take up post-diploma courses in polytechnics
* Education and continuous learning remains top priority of the Government; every child will be given access to first-rate education
* The government will raise additional revenues by extracting more income from reserves and increasing GST
* The government will set out key changes to strengthen social security system, reduce direct taxes, raise additional revenues, including GST, to provide Singaporeans with an offset package for GST increase
* Income gap is key item on agenda
* Response to widening income gap must be to focus on growth, embrace globalisation, but manage downsides
* First priority is to grow the economy, but the government must ensure that no one is left behind and all Singaporeans have the opportunity to succeed
* Introducing Workfare to do more to help needy Singaporeans
* Budget deficit of $1.3b expected for FY2006
* Economy expected to grow by a healthy 4.5% to 6.5% this year
* The Singapore economy grew by 7.9% in 2006
* Unemployment rate went down by 2.7%
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/sgbudget07/