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There
has been too much hype about the need to reduce corporate taxes in
order to attract investors. While to a certain degree it may be too
high income taxes may deter investments. However what about raising GST too high without understanding the real
problems that may be caused. GST deter consumption and many companies
at the end may pay just as high taxes overall due to paying too much
taxes on process materials or resources before they even produce the
final marketable products. So it is just as bad as high income tax if GST is raised too high to
replace income tax. Companies will not be attracted here also if income
tax is low while GST is high as there will be reduced consumption here
because GST will deter consumption. Under a high-GST economy, companies
will therefore try to import as little raw materials or semi-processed
materials as they will have to pay GST on these materials which incur
higher operating costs as much as paying higher income taxes. It will come back to square one if our ministers fail to understand the
trade off of GST and instead insist on raising GST. If they are our
true talents let them show us they understand at least such problems in
greater depth and perspective.
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