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An average Malaysian, besides food and his silly car loan, spends the bulk of his money on Education and Health. However, in a country which is so rich in resources and wealth, I cannot see why the Governemnt is not buidling more hospitals and universities and actually providing free Healthcare and free Education.
In comparison, the UK has double the population of Malaysia but it has hundreds of Universities and hundreds of free NHS hospitals. Our government gets a lot of revenue from sources that other social state countries like the UK don't i.e. like high taxes from cars. Some writer in Malaysia-Today did some calculations and estimated that since the inception of high car taxes, the taxes collected from cars alone would be some RM170 billion to date.
(http://www.malaysia-today.net/2008/content/view/8763/84/) Malaysia is rich in resources. In fact, many say Malaysia is one of the richest countries in the world with natural resources, for example, oil, gas, oil palm, rubber, tin, gold. UK does not have all these luxuries. For a country that is as rich as ours, why are there so few hospitals and universities? We are fortunate to have oil revenue. For the financial year ended March 31, 2007 (FY07), Petronas alone posted a net profit of RM46.4bil (and that is the old oil price). This year, how much? RM100 billion
maybe? And mind you that the RM46.4 bil is net profit; meaning that tens of billions have already been paid in tax to the Government. This is just one company. What about the hundreds of companies listed on the Bursa
which pays billions in taxes? Company tax is a very good source of revenue for the Government. Khazanah, the recent investment arm of the government, recently announced that its net worth is now RM53 billion. Khazanah owns substantial stakes in companies. By holding large amount of shares, I
am sure it gets hundreds of millions in dividends. The same with the EPF. The EPF invests the Rakyat's money. Besides giving interest on our balance, it makes a substantial profit. I do not want to elaborate on Sales Tax though it is a substantial form of revenue but I would like to touch on Stamp Duty. I remember paying about RM20,000 in Stamp Duty when I bought my house recently.
And I am just one person. What about the thousands who transact property everday? Thousands of Sale and Purchase agreements for properties are done daily. Stamp duty alone is this formula i) for the 1st RM100,000.000 - 1% i.e. 1/100 x RM100,000.00 = RM1,000.00 ii) for the next RM400,000.00 or part thereof - 2% i.e. 2/100 x RM400,000.00=RM8,000.00 iii) above RM500,000.00 - 3% i.e. 3/100 x any sum above RM500,000.00 So, the government makes loads of money from just Stamp Duty alone. Maybe its high time a substantial sum is channeled to building more Universities and Hospitals. Don't forget Personal Income Tax which also brings in billions. The list goes on, House Assessment, Quit Rent, Road tax etc. Malaysia is blessed with few calamities. Unlike other coutries where there are earthquakes and tornados which need billions to rectify damages, we don't have to fork out a lot of money for repair of existing infrastructure or aid victims of calamities. Where is all the revenue going to? Ganesh
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