[Official Thread] Budget 2009
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www.singaporebudget.gov.sg
this is the official thread to discuss all issues and comments on Budget 2009.
this thread will be opened on 22 January 2009
any other threads related to this topic will be removed without warning
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What time is the budget huh?
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They were just saying its gonna be 与众��
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Originally posted by maurizio13:
What time is the budget huh?
3.15 pm today on CNA -
Originally posted by fairlady_xoxo:
They were just saying its gonna be 与众��
They know the Singapore economy is going to be badly hit, that's why have to do alot more.
I wonder if LKY still stands by his statement about Singapore being insulated from US economy at the beginning of 2008.
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Originally posted by fairlady_xoxo:
They were just saying its gonna be 与众��
Probably this time they are parting with large amount of reserves with pain to help in this recession. -
Originally posted by Fantagf:
Probably this time they are parting with large amount of reserves with pain to help in this recession.You can be assured that they will make good ( capital + high interest) those reserves handed out when the economy picks up.
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Originally posted by maurizio13:
You can be assured that they will make good ( capital + high interest) those reserves handed out when the economy picks up.
ha ha ha, possible. They don't do kui ben sheng yi -
Originally posted by Fantagf:
ha ha ha, possible. They don't do kui ben sheng yiEither that or you will see GST increase 10% (Raymond Lim's take on free transport).
It's not �本生�，连本带高利. If not how you think they can afford to fly their chef to Japan to buy $50,000 Sashimi for dinner.
They é€€ä¸€æ¥ will 进三æ¥ã€‚
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Budget brief Just from SG Finance Minister.
S$20.5 billions Resilience Package!!
makes up of
S$4.5 billions cash grant to SG employers for Singaporean employee.
................cash grant to Singaporean employers(12% of salary for salary >
.............S$2500 pm).see below.
S$11 billion. Special Risk-Sharing Initative Programe.risks share with banks.
............A>.New Bridiging loans.Govt share 80% of risks.New loans fr 01 Feb 09.
.............B>Trade Scheme.Trading Financing.Govt share 75% risks.
S$?? billion.Corporate help line.Help biz cash flows.Education .Health care ..........services.Retails?
..........40% property tax rebate for commercial properties.
---------15 % rental rebate of JTC,HDB,SLA commercial properties.
...........extend 1 yr completion for residential project.Allow reassignment
...............of govt sale site .
.............allow biz some tax incentives,claim for previous loss etc
--------------corporate tax cut from 18 to 17 for % YA 2010.
-------------capital write down cut from 3 year to 2 year.75% write down in 1st yr.
.........Fund Management Industry:Tax incentive given.
.........MRO of aviation industry.zero GST.
..........Auction and warehouse industry .0 GST.
S$?? billion for Family--
.............Double GST credit as received in July 2008.$518 million.
---------.One stays in 4 room $400 on top $800 received.
------PUB rebate.
--------1 month rental for public rental flat.
---------Income tax rebate 20% YA 2010,to offset last year income tax.
--------40% properrty tax rebate for owner occupied.
---------2 nd home incentive.
.............Retire couple in 3 room with low income daugter get $4500 in a year.
------5 room couple w 2 teenager kids.$2200 in a year,including previous ..............Packages.
.....HDB First time Buyer CPF Grant to $40,000 ,income ceiling increase to $5000.
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18000 public sector jobs availiable in the next 2 years
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Originally posted by lionnoisy:
FM just said NO CPF cut.This time wont do this GST hike lah.
You are on a different plateau altogether.
You don't follow my response to fantagf?
Said not kui ben shen yi, I said if they want free lunched Raymond Lim will probably say GST increase to 10%.
What level of education do you have?
I think should be higher than my PSLE.
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err...
what abt unemployed singaporeans? housewives, students, out-of-jobers?
are they in the budget plan?
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Originally posted by kalangkabo:
err...
what abt unemployed singaporeans? housewives, students, out-of-jobers?
are they in the budget plan?
Don't think they will give money to this group of people.
Sorry, but their rationale will probably be that they don't contribute to the economy and CPF.
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C.2. To sustain jobs for Singaporeans, we will introduce a Jobs Credit which will encourage our businesses to preserve jobs as much as is possible in the downturn.
Jobs Credit will have broadest impact
C.6. The Jobs Credit that an employer receives will comprise 12% of the first $2,500 of the wages of each employee who is on the CPF payroll. It will be given in four quarterly payments, with each payment being based on the workers who are with the employer at the time. This will therefore provide incentive for employers to retain their local workers. For example, for a worker whose wage is $2,500, an employer will get $900 a quarter, or $300 a month.
Whoever contrive this initiative is either overtly optimistic or he was born yesterday.
Goes to show that PAP lack the practical economic machinations to bring us out of recesssion, thus the reliance on global economic factors. This initiative will only bring about higher profits for the businesses, it will not save jobs.e.g.
If you are a company operating with a profit before the downturn with a headcount of 100 staff (say each $2,500 /month). Hit by the economic downturn, your profits drop, you are at breakeven (no profits or losses) with your newly required headcount of 50.
1) Would any rational businessman keep all the 100 staff to take advantage of the job credit? That is to pay an extra 50 X $2,500 X 12 = $1,500,000, so he could get back a job credit of 50 X $300 X 12 = $180,000. He stands to lose $1,320,000.
Or
2) Would he just retain his required staff strength of 50 and earn extra profits of $180,000?
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They are just "drama" "drama". The help they are rendering does not include the senior citizens, jobless. Count on PAP to pay them more, count on PAP for increasing prices for the essentials, but don't count on them to help when times are bad.
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Finance Minister Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam has announced that the Government will introduce a $20.5 billion Resilience Package to save jobs and help viable companies stay afloat amid the downturn. The Package consists of five components as follows:
1) Keeping jobs, building for the future ($5.1 billion)
Jobs Credit: The Government will introduce a Jobs Credit scheme to help employers keep their workers by providing every employer with a cash grant to reduce their costs of employing Singaporean workers during the crisis. An employer will receive 12% cash grant of the first $2,500 of the wages of each employee on CPF payroll, given out in four quarterly payments from March 09.
Enhancing the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Retraining (SPUR): To help Professionals, Managers, Engineers and Technicians (PMET) to retrain, the Government will increase the subsidy rate for PMET courses from 80% to 90%, same as that for rank and file level courses. It will also bring under SPUR, selected tertiary courses at UniSim and the three publicly funded universities.
EDB will also introduce a $100 million programme where EDB will co-share manpower, training and related costs with companies, focusing on engineering and technical jobs, and fund on-the-job training opportunities for fresh graduates.
WIS Special Payment: The Government will give lower-wage workers a temporary additional WIS Special Payment of 50% of their existing WIS payment to supplement their pay and encourage them to stay employed. The eligibility criteria will also be relaxed to allow those with less regular employment to qualify.
Expanded employment in public service sector by over 18,000 jobs over the next two years in areas such as schools, healthcare, Home Team and Mindef, as well.
What do you think of the above measures to create and retain jobs for Singaporeans?
2) Stimulating bank lending
Special risk-sharing incentive: The Government will extend its support to a broader segment of the credit market besides the SMEs and for the first time, share in the risks of trade financing through a Special Risk-Sharing Incentive which has two components. The Government will introduce a Bridging Loan Programme (BLP) which will cater to loans of up to $5 million and increase the Government’s share of risk from 50% to 80% from 1 February 09. The Government will also take on a significant part of the risk in trade financing (risk-share of 75% for qualifying loans), to help companies to secure loans to fulfil their orders and insurance against the risks of their buyers defaulting on payments.
What do you think of the measures to help companies secure financing from banks?
3) Enhancing business cashflow and competitiveness ($2.6 billion)
The Government will introduce various tax concessions and measures to ease business cashflow and improve competitiveness, as follows:
Easing business cashflow
- 40% property tax rebate for industrial and commercial properties in 2009
- Rental rebates from JTC, HDB, and SLA
- Property tax deferral for land approved for development up to two years
- Loss carry-back relief enhancements for losses incurred for years of assessment 2009 and 2010
- Tax exemption for all foreign-sourced income earned on or before 21 Jan 09, if remitted within a year
Improving competitiveness and capabilities for innovation
- Reducing the corporate income tax from 18 to 17% from Year of Assessment 2010
- Accelerating capital allowance for plant and machinery acquired in 2009 and 2010
- $200 million test-bedding fund to make Singapore a “living lab” for companies and entrepreneurs to nurture new ideas, test innovative solutions and develop future global businesses
- $400 million top-up to National Research Fund to support Singapore’s continuing push in R & D
What do you think of the measures to enhance business cash flow and strengthen our competitiveness?
4) Supporting Families ($2.6 billion)
Direct assistance to households includes :
- GST credits and Senior Citizens’ Bonus will be doubled, with additional GST credits paid out on 1 March 09
- 20% personal income tax rebate for tax residents, capped at $2,000 for Year of Assessment 2009
- 40% property tax rebate for owner-occupied residential properties in 2009
- Additional Service & Conservancy Charge rebates for those living in 1-3 room HDB flats
- Additional rental rebates for eligible households in public rental flats
- Enhanced additional CPF Housing Grant for first time home buyers with the maximum quantum increased from $30,000 to $40,000, and the income ceiling increased from $4,000 to $5,000.
Targeted help for vulnerable groups includes:
- Increased Public Assistance Rate
- Increased Singapore Allowance for Government Pensioners to $240
- $100m top-up to each of the Eldercare Fund and Medical Endowment Fund
- Enhanced Financial Assistance Scheme and New Short-Term Study Assistance Scheme for Students
- Top up to Public Transport Fund to $10m to fund public transport vouchers for low-income households
Support for Charity Giving and Community includes
- Increased tax deduction to 250% for donations made in 2009 to Institutions of Public Character (IPC) and other approved institutions
- Additional $15m grant to Government-funded Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs)
- Increased funding to $7m to CCC Comcare Fund for the next two years
What do you think of the measures to help all households and the community?
5) Building a home for the future ($4.4 billion)
The Government will boost investments to make Singapore a lively global city and the best home for Singaporeans by:
- Bringing forward $1.3 b worth of infrastructure projects ranging from lift upgrading, to building of park connectors, to upgrading of military facilities in 2009
- Providing $1 billion funding for sustainable development projects over next five years
- Developing suburban nodes, road and rail networks, drainage and sewerage networks and public housing estate rejuvenation to decentralise economic activity and bring jobs closer to home
- Upgrading education and healthcare infrastructure
What do you think of the measures to make Singapore the best home for Singaporeans?
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I forsee the lifespan of Singaporeans increasing again very soon.
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Finance Minister Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam has announced that the Government will introduce a $20.5 billion Resilience Package to save jobs and help viable companies stay afloat amid the downturn. The Package consists of five components as follows:
1) Keeping jobs, building for the future ($5.1 billion)
Jobs Credit: The Government will introduce a Jobs Credit scheme to help employers keep their workers by providing every employer with a cash grant to reduce their costs of employing Singaporean workers during the crisis. An employer will receive 12% cash grant of the first $2,500 of the wages of each employee on CPF payroll, given out in four quarterly payments from March 09.
Enhancing the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR): To help Professionals, Managers, Engineers and Technicians (PMET) to retrain, the Government will increase the subsidy rate for PMET courses from 80% to 90%, same as that for rank and file level courses. It will also bring under SPUR, selected tertiary courses at UniSim and the three publicly funded universities.
EDB will also introduce a $100 million programme where EDB will co-share manpower, training and related costs with companies, focusing on engineering and technical jobs, and fund on-the-job training opportunities for fresh graduates.
WIS Special Payment: The Government will give lower-wage workers a temporary additional WIS Special Payment of 50% of their existing WIS payment to supplement their pay and encourage them to stay employed. The eligibility criteria will also be relaxed to allow those with less regular employment to qualify.
Expanded employment in public service sector by over 18,000 jobs over the next two years in areas such as schools, healthcare, Home Team and Mindef, as well.
What do you think of the above measures to create and retain jobs for Singaporeans?
2) Stimulating bank lending
Special risk-sharing incentive: The Government will extend its support to a broader segment of the credit market besides the SMEs and for the first time, share in the risks of trade financing through a Special Risk-Sharing Incentive which has two components. The Government will introduce a Bridging Loan Programme (BLP) which will cater to loans of up to $5 million and increase the Government’s share of risk from 50% to 80% from 1 February 09. The Government will also take on a significant part of the risk in trade financing (risk-share of 75% for qualifying loans), to help companies to secure loans to fulfil their orders and insurance against the risks of their buyers defaulting on payments.
What do you think of the measures to help companies secure financing from banks?
3) Enhancing business cashflow and competitiveness ($2.6 billion)
The Government will introduce various tax concessions and measures to ease business cashflow and improve competitiveness, as follows:
Easing business cashflow
- 40% property tax rebate for industrial and commercial properties in 2009
- Rental rebates from JTC, HDB, and SLA
- Property tax deferral for land approved for development up to two years
- Loss carry-back relief enhancements for losses incurred for years of assessment 2009 and 2010
- Tax exemption for all foreign-sourced income earned on or before 21 Jan 09, if remitted within a year
Improving competitiveness and capabilities for innovation
- Reducing the corporate income tax from 18 to 17% from Year of Assessment 2010
- Accelerating capital allowance for plant and machinery acquired in 2009 and 2010
- $200 million test-bedding fund to make Singapore a “living lab” for companies and entrepreneurs to nurture new ideas, test innovative solutions and develop future global businesses
- $400 million top-up to National Research Fund to support Singapore’s continuing push in R & D
What do you think of the measures to enhance business cash flow and strengthen our competitiveness?
4) Supporting Families ($2.6 billion)
Direct assistance to households includes :
- GST credits and Senior Citizens’ Bonus will be doubled, with additional GST credits paid out on 1 March 09
- 20% personal income tax rebate for tax residents, capped at $2,000 for Year of Assessment 2009
- 40% property tax rebate for owner-occupied residential properties in 2009
- Additional Service & Conservancy Charge rebates for those living in 1-3 room HDB flats
- Additional rental rebates for eligible households in public rental flats
- Enhanced additional CPF Housing Grant for first time home buyers with the maximum quantum increased from $30,000 to $40,000, and the income ceiling increased from $4,000 to $5,000.
Targeted help for vulnerable groups includes:
- Increased Public Assistance Rate
- Increased Singapore Allowance for Government Pensioners to $240
- $100m top-up to each of the Eldercare Fund and Medical Endowment Fund
- Enhanced Financial Assistance Scheme and New Short-Term Study Assistance Scheme for Students
- Top up to Public Transport Fund to $10m to fund public transport vouchers for low-income households
Support for Charity Giving and Community includes
- Increased tax deduction to 250% for donations made in 2009 to Institutions of Public Character (IPC) and other approved institutions
- Additional $15m grant to Government-funded Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs)
- Increased funding to $7m to CCC Comcare Fund for the next two years
What do you think of the measures to help all households and the community?
5) Building a home for the future ($4.4 billion)
The Government will boost investments to make Singapore a lively global city and the best home for Singaporeans by:
- Bringing forward $1.3 b worth of infrastructure projects ranging from lift upgrading, to building of park connectors, to upgrading of military facilities in 2009
- Providing $1 billion funding for sustainable development projects over next five years
- Developing suburban nodes, road and rail networks, drainage and sewerage networks and public housing estate rejuvenation to decentralise economic activity and bring jobs closer to home
- Upgrading education and healthcare infrastructure
What do you think of the measures to make Singapore the best home for Singaporeans?
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- 20% personal income tax rebate for tax residents, capped at $2,000 for Year of Assessment 2009
- this will benefic only 35% of the (work force / Population)
- because only 35% pay income tax
- 65% of the people do not enjoy the 20% but still spend as many as they earn
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Most likely Budget 2009 will be a balanced budget when they present Budget 2010, last year's budget resulted in an under estimation of revenue by $2 billion.
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I rem him saying for the property taxes ... A reduction of 40% for commercial and industrial properties and hopefully this will be credited back to the tenants.
If I read the financial reports of the companies correctly , quite a part of the rental fees are actually long term contracts, giving reduction in propoerty taxes will only give the owner more money. I guess those whose contract is ending can move to the others to ones get the 15% rebate then.
Sadly that I do not see much in assisting new startups year after year .
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The money in the end eventually will go back to them.