<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Jan 25, 2009
budget special
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>We'll need more help, jobless execs say
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>While welcoming the Govt's efforts, they deem tax instalment, other plans insufficient </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Michelle Tay
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
</TD><TD vAlign=bottom>
Marketing graduate Chua Bing Zhen, 22, unsuccessful in her job search so far, has applied to the Education Ministry for an account manager position. -- ST PHOTO: SAMUEL HE
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->Computer screen design engineer Edward Chin used to earn $9,000 a month but was retrenched in March last year.
This effectively left the 54-year-old with a taxable income of a little more than $20,000 for the 2009 year of income tax assessment.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>WHAT'S IN THE RESILIENCE PACKAGE
$5.1b
FOR SAVING JOBS
Government will give all employers money for every Singaporean and PR worker who is paid CPF - 12% of the worker's monthly wage cost, subject to monthly wage cap of $2,500 per employee
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>To him, the Government's new initiative to help stave off the taxman in the coming months is welcome - but not that helpful.
He is lukewarm towards Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam's announcement last Thursday that taxpayers can stretch their tax payments for the 2009 year of assessment over 24 months, if they lost their jobs last year or lose their jobs this year.
This represents twice as much time for repayment as the current instalment plan of 12 months, and is designed to ease the cash burden of the roughly 10,000 people who economists say have lost their jobs since the beginning of the financial crisis.
Mr Chin told The Sunday Times: 'I don't have to pay that much tax on the income earned last year, so I don't need 24 months to pay it off.
'The primary concern for me is finding a new job. You respond to ads that say there are jobs available, but you don't get even one call after applying.'
=> Cos ads are targetted at FTrash? And probably cos the hiring dude is also an FTrash? Only Sporns hate helping each other!
Other recently retrenched white-collar workers like him welcome the Government's move to give them more time to pay their taxes, but also want more practical measures to help ease their cash flow.
A former investment bank director, who was earning an annual package of $1 million, said he preferred a deduction of tax payable rather than the spreading out of the amount over 24 months.
'Affordability of the tax payable doesn't matter because we're taxed on past income,' said the man who did not want to be named. 'I don't see why people would have difficulty forking it out when they've already pocketed the pay cheques.'
Ms Wu Soo Mee, director of human capital and tax services at Ernst & Young, agreed: 'Singaporeans pay tax a year after the income is earned. You should be wise enough to save to pay tax next year on this year's income.'
But Mr James Clemence, a partner at PwC International Assignment Services, said that the measure is targeted at middle- to highincome earners.
He said: 'If you're a middle- or high-income earner, you plan your life based on your expected cash flow. If suddenly the money stops, you have to re-do your finances.
'Maybe you have rental agreements that were signed when rates were very high, as well as school fees and other living expenses to pay off. You want to defer any liabilities over as long a period as you can.'
Looked at this way, the measure will help anyone earning an annual income of more than $20,000, the amount above which your income becomes taxable, said Ms Wu. She pointed out, however, that the measure could also become an additional burden next year, if a retrenched worker finds a new job this year.
'If they get re-employed this year, they may find themselves having to pay simultaneous tax on two lots of income in 2010 - 1/24 of 2008's income and 1/12 of 2009's income - each month,' she said.
One thing the Government is doing for PMETs (professionals, managers, executives and technicians) is spending $750 million on retraining them and upgrading their skills over the next two years.
Under the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (Spur), it will increase course fee subsidies for PMET-level courses from 80 per cent to 90 per cent.
Mr Chin, who started an eight-month training course in tourism this month, still feels slightly left out.
'I don't know whether they will refund us because my course has already started. Ten per cent of the cost is still a lot - it's $1,000.'
Other retrenched executives The Sunday Times spoke to said the Government could have offered to arrange large-scale career fairs.
Small-scale ones have been held, such as the South West Community Development Council's job fair, which offered 150 jobs in the social services sector last month.
But a former manager at a statutory board, who declined to be named, said more were required.
He said: 'There are jobs, but we're not getting them (cos GONE TO FTRASH!). Spur doesn't suit us. We already have qualifications and professional experience, so to re-skill doesn't quite apply to us.'
Meanwhile, Ms Lilian Chan, 51, who has been out of a purchasing and merchandising job for seven months, found that the Budget 'didn't specifically address those who are mature and have been unemployed for a long time'.
She said: 'We are the ones now facing the biggest crisis because people think we are too old for jobs.'
But Ms Chua Bing Zhen, 22, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in marketing last August, is grateful that the Government has acted as a willing employer.
=> Vote PAPee despite being replaced by FTrash?
'The Ministry of Education put out ads, letting people know there are jobs there. Although I have a marketing degree, I applied for an account manager position and hope to get it,' she said.
[email protected]
Scaled-down expectations
'Now that there are many people retrenched, and jobs are in demand, we must accept whatever employers offer us, even if it means a lower wage.'
=> BEST PAID Chor Boh Lan Minister: This is the way to go, Peasant!
MR NOEL CHIN, 26, a quality engineer who was retrenched when his company closed down two months ago
Uphill task
'I have been having an extremely bad job-search experience as there are hardly any job advertisements and no calls from prospective employers as well. The GST credits are not enough. How long can $200 last you?'
MS FIONA CHIN, 33, an operations manager who resigned from her company due to its financial instability
=> Subliminal message that Sporns should blame themselves for resigning, etc.?
budget special
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>We'll need more help, jobless execs say
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>While welcoming the Govt's efforts, they deem tax instalment, other plans insufficient </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Michelle Tay
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Marketing graduate Chua Bing Zhen, 22, unsuccessful in her job search so far, has applied to the Education Ministry for an account manager position. -- ST PHOTO: SAMUEL HE
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->Computer screen design engineer Edward Chin used to earn $9,000 a month but was retrenched in March last year.
This effectively left the 54-year-old with a taxable income of a little more than $20,000 for the 2009 year of income tax assessment.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>WHAT'S IN THE RESILIENCE PACKAGE
$5.1b
FOR SAVING JOBS
Government will give all employers money for every Singaporean and PR worker who is paid CPF - 12% of the worker's monthly wage cost, subject to monthly wage cap of $2,500 per employee
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>To him, the Government's new initiative to help stave off the taxman in the coming months is welcome - but not that helpful.
He is lukewarm towards Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam's announcement last Thursday that taxpayers can stretch their tax payments for the 2009 year of assessment over 24 months, if they lost their jobs last year or lose their jobs this year.
This represents twice as much time for repayment as the current instalment plan of 12 months, and is designed to ease the cash burden of the roughly 10,000 people who economists say have lost their jobs since the beginning of the financial crisis.
Mr Chin told The Sunday Times: 'I don't have to pay that much tax on the income earned last year, so I don't need 24 months to pay it off.
'The primary concern for me is finding a new job. You respond to ads that say there are jobs available, but you don't get even one call after applying.'
=> Cos ads are targetted at FTrash? And probably cos the hiring dude is also an FTrash? Only Sporns hate helping each other!
Other recently retrenched white-collar workers like him welcome the Government's move to give them more time to pay their taxes, but also want more practical measures to help ease their cash flow.
A former investment bank director, who was earning an annual package of $1 million, said he preferred a deduction of tax payable rather than the spreading out of the amount over 24 months.
'Affordability of the tax payable doesn't matter because we're taxed on past income,' said the man who did not want to be named. 'I don't see why people would have difficulty forking it out when they've already pocketed the pay cheques.'
Ms Wu Soo Mee, director of human capital and tax services at Ernst & Young, agreed: 'Singaporeans pay tax a year after the income is earned. You should be wise enough to save to pay tax next year on this year's income.'
But Mr James Clemence, a partner at PwC International Assignment Services, said that the measure is targeted at middle- to highincome earners.
He said: 'If you're a middle- or high-income earner, you plan your life based on your expected cash flow. If suddenly the money stops, you have to re-do your finances.
'Maybe you have rental agreements that were signed when rates were very high, as well as school fees and other living expenses to pay off. You want to defer any liabilities over as long a period as you can.'
Looked at this way, the measure will help anyone earning an annual income of more than $20,000, the amount above which your income becomes taxable, said Ms Wu. She pointed out, however, that the measure could also become an additional burden next year, if a retrenched worker finds a new job this year.
'If they get re-employed this year, they may find themselves having to pay simultaneous tax on two lots of income in 2010 - 1/24 of 2008's income and 1/12 of 2009's income - each month,' she said.
One thing the Government is doing for PMETs (professionals, managers, executives and technicians) is spending $750 million on retraining them and upgrading their skills over the next two years.
Under the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (Spur), it will increase course fee subsidies for PMET-level courses from 80 per cent to 90 per cent.
Mr Chin, who started an eight-month training course in tourism this month, still feels slightly left out.
'I don't know whether they will refund us because my course has already started. Ten per cent of the cost is still a lot - it's $1,000.'
Other retrenched executives The Sunday Times spoke to said the Government could have offered to arrange large-scale career fairs.
Small-scale ones have been held, such as the South West Community Development Council's job fair, which offered 150 jobs in the social services sector last month.
But a former manager at a statutory board, who declined to be named, said more were required.
He said: 'There are jobs, but we're not getting them (cos GONE TO FTRASH!). Spur doesn't suit us. We already have qualifications and professional experience, so to re-skill doesn't quite apply to us.'
Meanwhile, Ms Lilian Chan, 51, who has been out of a purchasing and merchandising job for seven months, found that the Budget 'didn't specifically address those who are mature and have been unemployed for a long time'.
She said: 'We are the ones now facing the biggest crisis because people think we are too old for jobs.'
But Ms Chua Bing Zhen, 22, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in marketing last August, is grateful that the Government has acted as a willing employer.
=> Vote PAPee despite being replaced by FTrash?
'The Ministry of Education put out ads, letting people know there are jobs there. Although I have a marketing degree, I applied for an account manager position and hope to get it,' she said.
[email protected]
Scaled-down expectations
'Now that there are many people retrenched, and jobs are in demand, we must accept whatever employers offer us, even if it means a lower wage.'
=> BEST PAID Chor Boh Lan Minister: This is the way to go, Peasant!
MR NOEL CHIN, 26, a quality engineer who was retrenched when his company closed down two months ago
Uphill task
'I have been having an extremely bad job-search experience as there are hardly any job advertisements and no calls from prospective employers as well. The GST credits are not enough. How long can $200 last you?'
MS FIONA CHIN, 33, an operations manager who resigned from her company due to its financial instability
=> Subliminal message that Sporns should blame themselves for resigning, etc.?
