The circumstances upon which selective GST exemption/ reduction ought to be shunned.

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Originally Posted by coldwarmhot Re thread: [Utility tax] Is tax on tax equitable? I agree with BicCherry that GST is collected once and not multiple times. The total cost to consumer is 7% as of now. However "Tax on Tax" is not uncommon. There are many such examples in Singapore and it happens in other countries as well.

Tks for standing up for the fact/ truth.
Anyhow, as I'd previously mentioned, and using the photo of a Utility bill (Aug2012) as example, the final effect of the 30% water conservation tax (WCT) plus GST(7%) is a final WCT payable of 32.1% (i.e. 30% X 1.07= 32.1%). So there is no difference whether the 32.1% is derived as 32.1% (GST zero rated) or as 30% plus another 2.1% (GST) added- conceptually different but nominally the same amount payable eventually. A bit of mathematical acrobatics- that's all.


Mathematical/ psychological issues on tax calculation aside, guess the important question would be whether the 32.1% (and above for higher H2O consumers) WCT is sufficient or otherwise based upon population projections and current supply, not forgetting the need to cultivate good habits so as to be able to weather shortages (energy for desalination etc) that might occur as the case may be.

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Originally Posted by RingABell Re thread: [Utility tax] Is tax on tax equitable? Maybe they can remove the GST for essential items or totally remove GST to avoid double taxing. GST to the rich ppl is nothing but for the poor tax is a burden.

Actually, I think it is more cost effective to tax every thing that should be taxed because in the long run, it creates a more efficient government (such as what we are doing now)- in so far that a GST rebate stipend is distributed to all insofar as GST is in operation.

I would rather a broad GST framework be charged and rebates given than have a selective framework with NO REBATES given. According to SG government reports, the GST rebates given to the poor far exceed the GST that they had incurred, thus making the scheme helpful to national coffers as well as beneficial to the poor.

I cannot imagine if everything medical practitioners did were GST exempt- just look at the Dr's cars at Mt Elizabeth hospital, u think the folks there run a charity? There is no way to tell if the patient is one seeking essential(lifesaving) treatment or just getting her boobs enlarged because she is in the business of prostitution (read: spread disease/ HIV); judging by the inflated injury insurance claims prevalent in the motor industry and the neglect of injured foreign workers who get less than 4 days MC for fractures and other work injuries, one certainly doubts if medical practitioners in Singapore can be trusted to be ethical at all in their accounts regarding GST collection and submission- every cosmetic boob enlargement job will qualify for GST zero rating, (claimed as correcting some esoteric body imbalance/ defect) when what is really out of whack is are the morals of society/ that of the lady concerned/ the minds of strange men who like big b*****.

The really poor of course do get their treatment for free... in 2011, Medifund disbursed S$90million to needy patients this would hardly have been possible had the money been spent on a bloated bureaucracy haggling with suppliers whether or not their goods should or shouldn't attract GST and how much, corruption then become rampant in such an unnecessarily arbitrary and peculiar system.

One worry about the GST rebate system in Singapore is the problem of poor people inadvertently being harmed by GST rebates should they spend the $$$ receive irresponsibly such as on smoking (damage lungs), prostitutes (get HIV/ broken family), gamble (get addicted), drink (get into road traffic accidents)- thus the need for perhaps a proper voucher system and the availability of self improvement courses so that the GST rebates (not insubstantial of some) would not be squandered or used for bad rather than good purposes indeed.

Tags:
VAT, GST, taxation, revenue, poor, government, bureaucracy,
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At/ related:
A1:

10July2013: [Utility tax] Is tax on tax equitable?

SGC:

10July2013: The circumstances upon which selective GST exemption/ reduction ought to be shunned.

HWZ:

10July2013: The circumstances upon which selective GST exemption/ reduction ought to be shunned.

SBY:

10July2013: The circumstances upon which selective GST exemption/ reduction ought to be shunned.

10July2013: The circumstances upon which selective GST exemption/ reduction ought to be shunned.

10July2013: The circumstances upon which selective GST exemption/ reduction ought to be shunned.