Where did the $558K of lease hold land fees PER HDB HOUSEHOLD go to? The oversized and opaque reserves are the elephant in the room, and minister is not accounting for it, no?
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S$500 million.
“The money that HDB will need to pay for the land must be paid back into the past reserves..."
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/ang-mo-kio-bto-loss-s250m-desmond-lee-2010546
Since Central Weave @ AMK is 896 units, on average, each citizen who purchased a BTO HDB flat from HDB, on average, contributed $558K to the reserves for leasehold land used.
Increasing GST shows how wicked and self-serving 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/sin...elook-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
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.co...owest-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 at least $107.1B in declared corporate profits in FY2021/22 (likely much higher due to fairly rampant under declaration/ evasion, legitimate tax discounts excluded from what's actually collected. Commercial property taxes should at least double (to 20%) 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 disingenuous to say that GST is the best and only option that the PAP government has left 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 property tax rebate/waiver option (as is currently available to religious institutions) for such qualifying charities and non-profits (such approved concepts, as a cap on CEO remuneration which is not more than 3x the median hourly salary of full time staff etc). The quantum of commercial property tax refund claimable directly by the company providing charity programs (with transparent criteria) shall be limited to the actual/pro-rata property tax paid, and the non-profits accounts made publicly transparent etc etc.
